Stillman & Birn LLC Information

Stillman & Birn, LLC manufactures premium, mixed media sketchbooks bound in the United States. The company offers archival-grade hardbound and wirebound sketchbooks in six series (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and Zeta). This unique sketchbook system provides artists with a choice of paper weight, shade and surface. Artists in the field and educators have repeatedly demonstrated that Stillman & Birn papers are not only suitable for dry and wet media but, moreover, support drawing and painting techniques on the same surface. Stillman & Birn sketchbooks are crafted with archival-grade drawing papers which conform to the ISO 9706 standard for permanent paper. These papers are acid-free, chloride free and lignin-free, milled from pulp with an alpha cellulose content that exceeds 87%. Both the hardbound and wirebound editions are made with extra heavy weight binders board that is robust and resistant to warpage. Stillman & Birn is a brand associated with an earlier era of the art materials industry in the United States. The original company was founded in 1958 by Philip Birn (1911 – 2004). Birn was a highly admired Viennese bookbinder, who brought his Old World craftsmanship to a small plant in the SoHo section of Manhattan. SoHo is now filled with trendy shops, restaurants and residential lofts. But in the 1950’s SoHo was a center of light industry. From his plant at 270 Lafayette Street, Philip Birn pioneered the concept of the black hardbound sketchbook, which he marketed throughout North America, Europe and Australia.