Two grandchildren recall the family's history and devotion to manuscripts
“Abdel Zahir” .. 4 generations continue book binding and gilding their inscriptions
From the "Abdul Zahir" wing during the "18th Sharjah Heritage Days".
From the source
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Grandfather Abdel Zahir began practicing the profession of bookbinding and gilding since 1936, until his name became common in Cairo among lovers of old books that need someone who is nostalgic for their papers and tightens them with silk threads, then preserves them from being lost with luxurious binding that lasts for decades.
The fourth generation of the family continues to work in this craft until now, and two of Abdul Zahir's grandchildren restore the family’s history and their devotion to the love of books, through their sharing with the audience of "Sharjah Heritage Days 18", the details of the binding and gilding profession.
Hind Abdel Zahir explains that "the operator is still doing all the stages of binding books, manuscripts and notebooks, re-collecting and sewing their papers, and then binding them or replacing their old worn covers with leather that protects the book or manuscript for years that may reach 40 years."
After the binding comes the process of gilding, about which the other grandson, loyal to the profession, Yasser Abdel-Zahir, tells in detail.
Yasser is keen to clarify the difference between packing and binding, because, according to him, packaging can use any materials such as plastic, staples and harmful glue to the paper, while binding in their profession only uses goat skin material made in Egypt.
The binding applies to old and new books, and if the book needs a newer binding, the competent worker dismantles its papers and reassembles them.
Yasser also confirms that all the materials used in their binding process are natural, including the gum that they make from materials that do not damage the book papers, including flour flour and specific herbs, and a mixture of the secrets of Abdul Zahir the grandfather who left this profession to his grandchildren.
Before binding, there is the sewing stage that the worker performs, his task is to disassemble the pages of the books and arrange their pages with a special machine, so that the collected sheets are ready for sewing the heel of the book and make sure the cohesion of its pages, then comes the binding phase, and then the decoration or gilding, and includes writing on the face and heel of the book, by adding Author's name and title with some decorations and inscriptions.
The heritage dimension lies in how the gilding phase takes place, where the title of the book and the name of the author are collected from among a group of letters of lead metal, placed in a piece designated for stacking words, and then heated under a certain temperature to capture the color from gilded paper, and then pressed into The specified area of the folder cover or the stub of the book, in this way the gilding and decoration process is done.
This simple and complex technique at the same time attracts many, whether to see its stages, or to ask for the gilding of the covers of bound books and private notebooks.
"The employer transfers his skills to new trainees, and the workers may take two years to acquire the profession, and some of them left after mastering the craft to work outside Egypt," said Yasser Abdel Zahir.
The fourth generation of Abdul Zahir's descendants hope that this profession will continue, and that it will be classified among the crafts worthy of support and encouragement, because it contributes to prolonging the shelf life of books, so that the readers will continue to enjoy and enrich the minds with knowledge and arts.
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