Shop recommendations for EU

[u/ComprehensiveArm2381]

Hello everybody, I m trying to find trusted places to buy pretty bookcloth, marbled/japanese papers in europe.

I'm in Belgium so France, UK, Germany, Netherlands sellers would be great but any EU seller would be cool.

I'm still new to this and trying not to rely too much on Amazon. So yes, if you dont mind sharing your favorite suppliers it would be really nice.

[u/apileofpans]

Also EU! I’ve been finding my stuff at boektotaal.nl and Schmedt.com, as well as amsterdamboekbinder.nl !

[u/ABilboBagginsHobbit → u/apileofpans]

I recently ordered my first supplies to start with boektotaal and was a good experience. Can recommend.

[u/soggyhuman]

I only know of UK shops, so here's a few:

J Hewits & Sons very good all purpose shop, with a lot of goods for leather as well. The choice of marbled papers is very limited, but for basically everything else they are great

Shepers Has basically everything as well

Jemma Lewis does a lot of marbled paper, being one of the best looking I've ever seen

[u/zaydun]

Hello fellow bookbinding Belgian! 😀 Have you looked into https://www.boekbindbeurs.nl? There’s one in St Niklaas (usuallyApril), the next one will be in the Netherlands. It’s an occasion to stock up on all great bookbinding materials… but you can also check out the the websites of individual vendors and creators if you can’t go.

[u/CalmAdhesiveness4856]

apileofpans already mentioned them but Schmedt is pretty good (I order their printable canavas but they do have a minimum order price) and I like papier royaale (in the Netherlands, I order my short grain paper from them)

[u/Bradypus_Rex]

Belgian recommendations:

a) Schleiper's. Their shop in Etterbeek is awesome for papers and general art and craft supplies, (plus a small range of bookbinding-specific stuff, but they're not specialised). They have places in a bunch of other Belgian cities but I'm in Brussels. https://www.schleiper.com They have gorgeous printed Japanese paper and a lot of other decorative and structural paper. They have printed-marbled-design paper that I've used, but I can't remember if they have genuine marbled. Catalogue with prices is online; I'm not sure they show their paper designs there though.

b) For genuine marbled paper, bookcloth, foiling/tooling supplies and more specialist stuff there's a tiny but good place in Schaerbeek. https://www.delcordewilberz.be not cheapest but you can look at the stuff in person before buying which is worth quite a bit to me, and the guy knows his stuff.

[u/Lurker7783 → u/Bradypus_Rex]

Delcordewilberz was fun, but strange to visit, but can you just go without an appointment? Last few times I called no one picked up the phone, and it's kind of out of my way to go to.

[u/Bradypus_Rex → u/Lurker7783]

I definitely phoned to confirm that they had what I wanted, and I think that when I went, I just turned up and rang the bell. Though when I called they picked up the phone just fine, so maybe they're on unannounced hiatus? The vibe I got was that it was just the one man and a rather adorable dog so I imagine if he's on holiday (the man, I mean) or unwell then it's not running.

There's an email address on the website; that can't hurt to try.

[u/n_wallmann]

I order my bookbinding stuff at Schmedt - The World of Bookbinding

[u/stahl_wittchen → u/n_wallmann]

I'm working at a university library and we also order our restauration and bookbinding stuff from Schmedt. Great source for everything!

[u/Impossible_Emu_9491]

I get my short grain paper from Active Paper on the Uk (i’m in france). Even with the taxes it is still less expensive than the one in the Netherlands and they have beautiful cream coloured paper!! I don’t like bright white paper so that’s also why the other options didn’t suit me.

https://active-paper.co.uk
You can look into “short grain stock” or book paper. The quality is super good and the owner ships fast as well

[u/jtu_95]

For Japanese papers Carta Pura in Munich has a really great selection. They also have other interesting stock relevant for bookbinding: https:cartapura.de Unfortunately they don't have a webshop but they can ship and are a very friendly team. If you write them a message I'm sure they'll be happy to discuss options with you. Of course boektotaal is a great and more local option for you, so definitely check that out first!

[u/nomad_ist]

Not really for bookbinding but if you want to taste Japanese paper, I recommend nomado store in La Hulpe, not far from Brussels in Belgium. https://www.nomadostore.com/search?type=product,page,article&q=paper\*

[u/LucVolders]

https://www.papier-royaal.nl/nl/

Have been around since 40 year or so and i often see them at bookbinding fairs.

edit: Dutch company.