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Contact Info:
Neil Stewart
President & Partner
416 757 9991 x 223
neil [at] ansteybookbinding [dot ] com
Lora McLean
Sales
416 757 9991 x 227
lora [at] ansteybookbinding [dot ] com
Phone: 416 757 9991
Fax: 416 757 2040
50 Hollinger Rd
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M4B 3G5
info [at] ansteybookbinding [dot ] com
Partners:
Neil Stewart
Neil's comprehensive knowledge of printing, binding and paper make him one of Canada's foremost authorities on book design and manufacturing.
He brings a lifetime worth of experience to Anstey, a company recognized internationally for expertise in traditional print-related techniques, impeccable craftsmanship and unsparing attention to detail.
Doug Laxdal
Doug is the founder of The Gas Company Inc., a digital graphics studio serving artists, designers, photographers and agencies. Providing end-to-end services across the entire graphics process, Doug and his staff are specialists in colour separation, image retouching, fine art printing and 3D rendering.
http://www.gascompany.com/
Jay Mandarino
Jay is the founder and owner of CJ Graphics, Canada's leading full-service high-end digital and litho commercial printer. Outside of pleasing his clients with exceptional printed products, Jay's true passion is donating his time as an auctioneer for charity fundraising events. His motto: "Lend a hand by raising yours".
http://www.cjgraphics.com/
http://www.jbmauctionservices.com/
Company History
Messrs. Anstey and Webb founded Anstey Book Binding in 1882. Located in Toronto's business district, the firm employed over 20 people and supplied general finishing and trade bindery services for many of the city's downtown printers.
The company survived the Great Fire of 1904 that devastated the city, destroying over one hundred buildings and putting more than five thousand people out of work.
During the 20th century, Anstey continued to prosper, developing its own line of stationery products (known as the "A" Line). During the 60s and 70s the company produced many beautiful Art Books, working with such notable artists as Bernard Loates, A.J. Casson, Lorraine Monk, and Christine Marshall.
More recently Anstey has collaborated with printers such as
Bowne, Graficom, C.J. Graphics, Colour Innovations, Herzig Somerville and Flash Reproductions to produce limited edition books
and portfolios.
We've also created
a broad range of promotional materials in partnership with artists, printers and designers from around the world.
We wish to acknowledge all the clients that have worked with us over the decades. Thank you for doing business with us and helping us get better at our craft.
And a special thanks to the people and companies who's work appears on this site, they are:
Adams+Associates, BMD, Barr Gilmour, The Office of Gilbert Lee, Concrete, Carmen Dunjko, Laurence Finn, Tim Forbes, Riordon Design, SFP, Parcel, Taxi, Viva Dolan, Heather Cooper, Q 30 Design, Bhandari Plater, Yield,
Brill Communications, Ernst & Young, The Actualizers, Jump,
Montana Steele, Chesterfield 8,
Lynsay Reynolds, Unisource, Compass 360, Leo Burnett, Carlson Marketing, Sharon Lockwood,
LA Inc., Mark Koudis, Movable
Glossary Of Terms
ANSTEY – A town in England and the birthplace of Ned Ludd, the founder of the Luddite movement at the turn of the 18th Century.
BRASS DIE – A mechanically engraved die cut from 1/4" engravers brass. It is best suited for multi-level embossing or interpretive 3-D illustration.
CHANNEL BIND - A U-shaped channel formed with cloth and board and then attached to the inside of a book’s hard cover. The book pages are inserted into the channel and held there with Chicago Screws, which is a 2 piece post and screw with a very flat slotted head made of aluminum, often used for photographer’s albums and portfolios. Chicago screws allow for changing of individual pages.
COPPER DIE – A chemically etched single level die, excellent for rendering offline detail. Its hardness makes it suitable for longer runs and it is an excellent conductor of heat for foil stamping.
COUNTER DIE - Used in embossing to apply pressure on the back of the press sheet to force the paper into the die. It is the mirror image of the die, also known as the male portion of the die. The counter can be hand cut with an engravers board, cast with a dental compound, or made with photo polymer plate material.
CROSSOVER – The area in a book where an image crosses over the gutter between 2 signatures.
CUP DIE - Also known as Combination Die. Made with machined brass, it is designed to apply foil and emboss in one pass through the press by applying pressure from the back of a sheet simultaneously. A carefully cut Counter Die is also required.
DUPLEX – The process of laminating two sheets together back to back, which creates a double thick sheet with two cover weights or text plus cover. It is frequently used to conceal the bruising from embossing on the back of the sheet on business cards.
ENDPAPER – A four-page sheet which tips onto the edge of a text bloc on a book. The folded endpaper tips to the edge of the book’s first and last signature with a 1/4' strip of glue. Once the endpaper is glued to the inside front cover and the inside back cover of the book, it is the tipping glue that holds the bloc in the book.
ENGRAVING - Refers to the die used to produce engraved stationery. Traditionally, embossing was the process of printing the die. Engravers would cut the die and the embosser or die sinker would take it and either emboss it blind with no ink, or emboss it in an embossing press with ink. The method is referred to as an “intaglio” process meaning "from the line". Ink is applied to the die and then wiped from the surface leaving only ink in the line. The embossing process pulls the ink out of the line by embossing it into the paper and leaves the die ready for another application of ink.
Engraving produces a very sharp image with dense, vibrant colour. White ink is opaque and can print over dark paper. Gold and silver inks are produced with metallic powders and then burnished in a second blind pass through the press producing a lustrous finish. Traditionally, engraving was used for social stationery such as invitations and funeral announcements. Law firms still use engraved stationery as it is a good way to ensure the authenticity of a document and very difficult to forge.
FAN BINDING - A method of binding journals and single pages by first notching grooves on the spine then gluing the pages in such a way that a thin strip of glue is applied to both sides of the sheet at the spine. The process makes for a very strong bind and is considered to be archival due to the special cold glue formulation used in this technique. It is an excellent method of binding digital books in smaller editions (under 500 books). Pages should be prepared with grain direction parallel to the spine.
FOIL STAMPING - A method of decoration employing a pigment or metallic colour applied to an acetate backer. The pigment layer is released with heat and pressure, using a die in a stamping press.
GUTTER - The centre of a book spread, the fold.
LETTERPRESS - A broad term that refers to printing from the surface of type, which was usually made from either wood or lead. First, the surface of the letterform or illustration was inked, and then the image was transferred to paper using pressure. The best letterpress jobs barely showed any impression at all, while contemporary letterpress, which uses photo polymer plates, usually shows more of an impression. Polymer plates are very resilient and durable, and allow for a deep impression and long runs. Printing jobs with large solid areas are best suited to Litho Printing, while letterpress is best suited for line illustration and typography.
LUDDITE - See Anstey.
MAGNESIUM DIE - A chemically etched die, it is the standard for most everyday applications and is used for single level embossing as well as foil. It can wear down quickly, especially when stamped on hard finish woven book cloths.
METALS - A ring mechanism used in loose-leaf binders. It is available in a wide range of sizes and styles and can be custom coloured.
OVERSEWING - A method of binding single pages or journals by sewing very close to the spine with thread. The oversewing machine is unique to this application and until recently was the only approved method of re-binding library journals. This process has since been replaced by fan binding.
PERFECT BINDING - Not exactly perfect, perfect binding is the accepted method of most commercial binding. The pages are roughened at the spine and then glued with hot melt adhesive. The method is not archival, however PUR glue is available from some binderies and is stronger and more durable than conventional hotmelt. An alternative to perfect binding that is archival is double adhesive fan binding.
SET UP BOX - A box made with a chipboard substrate wrapped with a text weight paper or material. Setup boxes are turned edge products, the sheet turns over the edge of the substrate and onto the back of the box, turning in about 1/2"
SIDE SEWING - Sewing of a book through the bloc at the spine about 1/4" to 1/2" in from the edge. Suitable for very thin books, digital books and documents that are printed on single sheets with no fold. A side-sewn book does not lay flat when opened.
SIGNATURE - A signature is a large sheet printed with several pages, intended to form four or more leaves in a finished book. The pages are arranged on the sheet so that all of the pages orient the same way and are in proper sequence after the sheet is folded.
SMYTH SEWING - Refers to the Smyth machine that sews signatures of a book with thread. The folded signature is fed on a saddle and sewn through the spine fold to the next signature with a loop stitch. A Smyth sewn book requires a minimum of three signatures. A signature must be more than four pages as a single four pager would be too thin to resist the pull of the thread, and would cut through the paper. Four pagers can be wrapped on the outside of another signature or inserted inside a signature. A book designer should understand exactly where the signatures fall in a book so that the crossovers can be planned.