Specialist Bookbinder

Catherine Dunckley

Grandey's Place QEST Scholar

Grandey’s Place directly funds a number scholarships and awards in association with the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST), providing an alternative opportunity to express our on-going commitment to preserving and nurturing our endangered heritage crafts. 

PLEASE NOTE: Catherine is not resident at Grandey’s Place. 

Catherine is a Derbyshire-based bookbinder, specialising in leather bound fine bindings. She creates bindings in both contemporary and traditional styles, using techniques including hand-dyed leather inlays and onlays, leather joints and doublures, silk sewn endbands and edge gilding. Catherine's specialty is creating contemporary fine bindings which involves creating a bespoke, artistic binding that reflects the book, using the highest quality materials and level of precision possible.

Thanks to the QEST Grandey’s Place Scholarship, she has completed extensive tuition with world-renowned bookbinders and has more recently learned advanced techniques such as binding with vellum, contemporary gold tooling and more. She looks forward to honing these new skills in her future work and preserving the heritage craft of hand bookbinding.