Gold Tooling Tools from John Regan Mitchell

Mitchell was a highly regarded figure in British hand bookbinding, particularly known for his expertise in the gold decoration of leather bindings. He trained in gold finishing and later became Head of Hand Bookbinding at the London College of Printing, where he contributed to the training of a new generation of craft bookbinders. He also served as Chairman of the Society of Bookbinders and, in 2001, received the Royal Warrant as Bookbinder to Queen Elizabeth II.

His technical knowledge was also recorded in two influential practical manuals: A Craftsman’s Guide to Edge Decoration (1993) and A Craftsman’s Guide: An Introduction to Gold Finishing (1995), devoted respectively to edge decoration and the techniques of gold finishing in hand bookbinding.

The tools provide material evidence of the everyday studio practice of an important British bookbinder. Their preservation within the Triton & Shell collection offers an opportunity to study not only the tools themselves, but also the relationship between craftsmanship, technique, and decorative tradition in twentieth-century British bookbinding.