Medieval to Modern: Guilds for Bookworkers

First established in the Middle Ages, craft guilds are associations of workers of the same trade for a mutual benefit. These guilds resulted from the rise of independent towns and merchants needing a system to protect the knowledge of their particular craft, uphold the integrity of trading practices, and to negotiate city and state wide trade regulations.

Craft guilds reached their height in the 14^th century when trade was limited to the town (or city-state) in which one lived. As trading markets began to open between towns, larger city-states and eventually countries, guilds began functioning increasingly like our modern day labor unions, while also continuing the tradition of passing down craft knowledge. In my view, the main difference between the guilds and labor unions is that guilds represented the interests of masters only. Masters’ “authority was backed by superior political sanction; apprentices and journeymen came under guild jurisdiction but lacked membership rights.”[1]

Bookbinders were, and continue to be one part of a larger community of bookworkers which, in the Middle Ages, included parchminers, scribes, limners, book sellers, and - after the invention of movable type - printers. In contrast, modern bookbinding guilds and societies are organizations open to anyone with an interest in, or a practitioner of, the book arts. Today, guilds of bookworkers strive to promote craftsmanship, high standards, and innovation - while also providing opportunities for fraternity and education.

In this forthcoming series of articles, I will trace the evolution of the craft guild from medieval to modern times in an attempt to confirm that their legacy is to instill in members ”the idea of standards, quality, consistency, and perfection.”[2]