To speak about the bookbinder Pierre Ouvrard is to examine the vision of a passionate monk, a man who could have been born during the period described by Umberto Eco in his novel The Names of the Rose. While roses attract us with the charm of their fleeting beauty, a fine binding captures for the ages a vision of immortality.

Where does the word binding come from? It originates from the Latin verb ligare or religare, which could be translated as "to bind together." A common mistake is to consider binding as being contemporary with the birth of printing, or even as a mere complementary craft. While we know that printing originated in the fifteenth century, we sometimes forget that the art of binding goes back to antiquity. Indeed, it is important to remember that the birth of binding dates back to nomadism.

Throughout the history of humankind, civilizations have always felt the need to leave traces of their presence on earth. Just think of the hieroglyphs written in stone, followed by writings using fire-heated stamps to emboss tree bark and the leaves of the palm and phalaris reed. These last were tied together with cords, allowing the binding of the manuscripts and their circulation.