| Individual or organisational biography | Alfred Brazier began working as a bookbinder in 1934 when he started a seven year apprenticeship at Kelly and Sons Bookbinders. His apprenticeship was interrupted in 1939 when he was called up for active service in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. Following demobilisation Brazier resumed and completed his apprenticeship.
Brazier studied at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts obtaining the City and Guilds of London 1st Class Final Certificate for Bookbinding in 1952, and in 1954 obtained the Full Technological Certificate. He was appointed Foreman of the Forwarding Department at Kelly and Sons in 1954 in charge of nine men and two apprentices. The department consisted of a Publisher's Edition section and a section for Extra Miscellaneous Fine Bindings.
In 1952 Brazier was appointed to the panel of London College of Communication Evening School Instructors and from then on held Bookbinding classes at the Robert Browning Institute three evenings a week. He worked as a visiting teacher at the Camberwell School of Art and Crafts teaching when the number of students warranted an additional teacher. In 1959 he became Senior Lecturer at London College of Printing (now London College of Communication) running classes in Bookbinding up until 1981.
In the 1970s Brazier travelled to Nigeria on behalf of the British Council to advise on the set-up of a university Bookbinding department. |
| Custodial History | The Collection was kept in Alfred Brazier's house, in Catford, London until it was transferred to the University Archives and Special Collections Centre in 2010. |