DDr. Ludwig Mohr (1962-2022), Master Craftsman. He, indeed, led a life of passion. His plans for the Book Institute included the revival of the old school of printing where every step in the creation of a book could be done by a master craftsman.
Born in Heidelberg, Germany. He earned 2 doctoral and 5 master’s degrees in history of bookmarking, paper marbling, letterpress printing & typesetting, bookbinding in his early 20s. He worked at the celebrated printing company Baier and Schneider in Heilbronn, from where he obtained a certificate in industrial printing.
Between 1984 and 1992, Ludwig worked with Christian Zwang in the field of fine bookbinding. Then, with Hartmut Frielinghause, he worked as a printmaker for Horst Jenssen. Finally, Horst Pichl, one of the renowned bookbinders of Germany and a professor in the Academy of Art in Stuttgart, taught him French bookbinding techniques. Of all those years of apprenticeship, Ludwig often reminisced his days in the Devauchelle bindery in Paris. Roger Devauchelle was one of the greatest bookbinders, master craftsmen, and writers of twentieth-century France. Having worked in his atelier in Paris was an exceptional privilege for the young Ludwig who mastered the complex and highly artistic French style bookbinding; he once said: ‘if it were a car, the French bookbinding would be the Rolls Royce of all bookbinding styles”. It was in those Parisian years that he went for the completion of gilding and earned the very coveted title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) for the art of dorure or gilding.
In 1992, he moved his business to US, his work included for the Morphosis Architects, the Year Books in Veronica Mars, props for movies such Titanic, Planet of the Apes, Elf, Nixon (where he made props for the scene in Chairman Mao’s office), and many more.
Fluent in German, French, English, and Dutch, he was a bibliophile and an avid reader; he built up a considerable library of sources on the art, industry, and trade of printing, etching, bookbinding, gilding, and typesetting. He was an excellent printer capable of printing fine books with letterpress printing techniques. Besides, he produced etching and beautiful marbled papers in his shop. But above all, he found satisfaction in teaching and transmitting his knowledge to whoever was eager to learn from him. This is why he founded a nonprofit organization named Book Institute, in which he trained students from all over the world either in person or online.
He was a board member of the Los Angeles Printmaking Society, and a member of many professional associations, such as the Hand Bookbinders of California, the Printing Industries Association Inc. of Southern California, the American Typecasting Fellowship.
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