00:00 [ Music ]
00:14 >> My name is Kate Grimwaite, and I'm production director
00:16 at the Folio Society.
00:17 We're at Smiths Settle today to watch them begin the binding
00:22 process of these wonderful volumes of Shakespeare's plays,
00:27 which Folio are publishing to celebrate the 400th anniversary
00:31 of Shakespeare's first folio.
00:34 Smiths Settle have folded and sewn the sheets
00:41 into these beautiful pages, gilded the edges,
00:47 and tipped on the endpapers.
00:50 And today we're here to watch them bind these books
00:55 in this incredibly beautiful silk
00:57 with a pattern designed by Neil Packer.
01:00 The silk's been woven at a company called Stephen Walter's
01:05 being woven on a jacquard loom.
01:07 And Smiths Settle have cut the woven silk,
01:10 which we have in front of us here.
01:12 So these are rolls of silk, one designed for each volume.
01:16 This one is a tragedies, which has a symbol
01:19 of the heart and the dagger.
01:20 This is the comedies that has a symbol of the jester's hat,
01:25 and this one is the histories.
01:26 So Smiths Settle are carefully cutting out each panel of silk,
01:31 and they're going to line that in paper.
01:33 And then they're going to make a book block like this.
01:36 And then this will be bound into the book block
01:43 to create one of the volumes.
01:45 Most of this work is done by hand.
01:48 In fact, all of this work is done by hand
01:50 with great care and attention.
01:53 And we're really proud of what we're doing with Smiths Settle here
01:57 and of the enormous care they're taking
02:00 to bind these beautiful books.
02:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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