Trade Bindery in Denmark, circa 1916

This short film (no sound) shows what is probably the D.L. Clement eftf. bindery in 1916. Daniel Louis Clement was born in 1820 and passed away in 1877. The bindery was then taken over by his wife, Sara Elise Petrine Nilsson, who died in 1911. It continued to exist, having merged with the Forlagsbogbinderiet in 2005. I’m not sure of its status today.

Perhaps the most interesting thing in this film is how many people were working there, and the quantity of work produced.

What has been hard to convey at times is that, just because someone signed a book it doesn't mean necessarily that they actually did the work. Axel Knudsen studied and worked with Sandgren, Harry Larsen was at Kyster’s bindery with Park, Ole Olsen was at the Jacob Baden eftf. before going out on his own. Which is to say that, even though the owner of the bindery signed the book, it doesn’t mean that the person who might have bound the book wasn’t equally as talented as the name stamped on the binding.

By the way, “eftf.” means the person whose name is on the bindery (and the book) had passed on and the bindery continued under their name. This film is from the Danish Film Institute and Danmark På Film (www.danmarkpaafilm.dk)

With thanks to Mark Andersson @ Panther Peak Bindery