An anniversary of binding

As this is the Worsley Blog, we can't let the 125th anniversary of wire binding go past unmarked... the invention of the method of putting those staples through paper for magazines, catalogues etc., starting with a roll of wire.

This finishing technology was what Print21 magazine reports as "the first major revolution in book production since Gutenberg's invention of letterpress printing".

Its inventors, German brothers, Hugo and August Brehmer, went from Leipzig to the USA, but found that the ties that bound them to their hometown were too strong and on their return they founded the plant at Leipzig Plagwitz in 1897.

And the reason for our special interest? Well, with mergers etc along the way, one of the common brands of wire stitchers in use in the printing industry today is the Worsley-Brehmer stitcher. Sadly, there is no connection other than the name.