Hidebound Books

Timeless, textured companions for seekers of wisdom and depth.

Debut collection releasing soon.

Our Manifesto

In an age of rapid — and at times disorienting — technological innovation, Hidebound Books seeks to revive a tradition half a millennium old. 


In 1494, just 50 years after Gutenberg created the first printing press, Aldus Manutius founded the Aldine Press in Venice. He introduced the libelli portatiles — small-format, portable editions of classic texts — designed to be tools of learning for men on the move, the “weapons of scholars”. In 1764, Voltaire published his Dictionnaire Philosophique Portatif, a pocket-sized volume of short, incendiary essays. Voltaire explicitly intended this work to be portable, declaring that revolutionary material must be small enough for people to carry with them. In the 19th century, publishers produced pocket-sized editions of classic texts for gentlemen and flâneurs (reflective, urban wanderers) to carry on their travels.

Today, we carry the world’s knowledge in our pockets. But these glowing boxes are as much pits of distraction as wells of wisdom.

At Hidebound, we believe there is no replacement for the physical book. We craft elegant, tactile companions for travelers and modern-day flâneurs; to gracefully incorporate learning and contemplation into their daily lives.

The Product

The Hidebound experience consists of two hand-made elements:

  • A cover, made in England from certified Tuscan leather, stitched and embossed, limitlessly refillable.

  • A library of paper folios, each saddle-stitched in England using heavyweight cream paper, sliding smoothly into the cover’s sleeve.

Together, they form a pocket library for those who strive to live deliberately — who wish to make space, even in small moments, for learning and reflection.