Atelier Renée Normandin - a profile

If you happen to find yourself on the Plateau Mt-Royal in Montreal (which if you are visiting, I would strongly recommend), stop by the atelier-boutique Reliure Artisanale Renée Normandin at 371 Roy st E. You can watch bookbinding artisans at work and pick up the cutest little hand made notebooks.

We stumbled upon it one night when it was closed but were enchanted by the little cahiers she had displayed in her window. We spoke to Renée Normandin over the phone briefly to find out a bit more. The interview was conducted in French and is a translation.

In the atelier which she took over from another owner-artisan four years ago, Normandin applies the skills she has mastered as a binder.

"We repair old books, fill custom made orders, make blank books, geneologies, marriage books..." says Normandin.

They do all the work inside their boutique, therefore customers are invited to watch artisans at work. A real treat.

"The customer sometimes has to be patient, because we might be working on a more complex binding, but we will eventually answer their request," she explains.

One of the types of paper they use is cotton paper. We asked if there was an advantage to using cotton paper?

"It is of a higher quality, lasts longer and is acid free ," she says.

They also work with leather, marble, cloth, Nepalese paper.

She adds, "customers come in asking for their books to be printed with paper they have brought in . People come in with doctoral thesis, video game scripts."

They also use techniques of protection and conservation, work on collections, and work on covers ranging from supple to rigid.

They offer workshops and courses. The workshops are one day, usually a Saturday and provide the opportunity to work on a specific project. They cost between 75 $ - 95 $.

A course is 10 classes of 2 hours each where a specific technique can be perfected. They are $ 350.00.

Reliure is the French word for binding. She shares her space with Josée Roberge, an artisan who has been binding for 20 years and is still learning techniques.

"It has a long history and tradition ," she says.

You can find a web site if you look up Atelier Soleil or relieur.ca on the net.
Phone number: (514) 849-8626
Closed Sunday and Monday.