Find les éditions Leal Torres at the CODEX Book Art Fair!
- Jan 26
- 3 min read
Next week, les éditions Leal Torres will be traveling to Oakland, California, to participate in the tenth edition of the International Biennial CODEX Book Art Fair & Symposium from February 7th to the 10th, 2026. During this trip, our team will have the opportunity to present our collection of books at the Alliance Française of San Francisco on February 5th, and to unveil our newest publication, Powers of the Book, created especially in honour of CODEX X!
The CODEX Foundation
In 2005, Peter Rutledge Koch, fine press printer, and Susan Filter, paper conservator, created the CODEX Foundation with the purpose of shaping a space for the promotion of the book as a work of art. They sought to bring together book artists and fine press printers from around the world to foster dialogue between new and old concepts, and to encourage urgent conversations about the fate and future of the book as a unique art form that is indispensable to mankind.
Through its services and varied programming, which include exhibitions, publications, symposia, lectures, a reference library, an artist book and fine press library, letterpress workshops, and other community activities held in the CODEX Foundation Logan Book Arts Center, the CODEX Foundation supports working artists, craftspeople, scholars, curators, and collectors in the production and preservation of meaningful scholarly and artistic contributions to the book arts. In all aspects of its work, the Foundation seeks to preserve and promote the contemporary handmade book as a work of art, and to support those who contribute to its production, preservation and transmission today.
The International Biennial CODEX Book Art Fair & Symposium
In 2007, the CODEX Foundation held the first edition of its International Book Art Fair & Symposium in Berkeley, during which 120 exhibitors showed their work to approximately 750 visitors. Today, this biennial fair attracts over 200 exhibitors and 3000 visitors, making it one of the most successful and exciting book fairs in the world. In February 2026, CODEX X, the tenth anniversary edition of Codex, will take place at the Oakland Marriott City Center.
The International Biennial CODEX Book Art Fair & Symposium serves practitioners, scholars, curators, collectors, students, as well as representatives of associated crafts, such as bookbinders and boxmakers, calligraphers and lettering artists, papermakers and paper decorators, type foundries, toolmakers, and book art suppliers. It welcomes institutions and organisations dedicated to preserving and promoting all aspects of the field — and, of course, all enthusiasts of the art of the book who wish to celebrate the rich traditions and extraordinary contemporary practises surrounding artists’ books and fine press publications!
An exceptional book dedicated to CODEX X
Les éditions Leal Torres wished to celebrate their participation to CODEX by partnering with the Atelier du Livre d’Art & de l’Estampe de l’Imprimerie nationale (IN Groupe) to copublish a book about the book.
Powers of the Book, a bilingual edition limited to ten copies, brings together a text by Pierre-Marc de Biasi (translated by Charles Penwarden) and original engravings by the art bookbinder Louise Bescond. It muses on the importance of preserving the paper-and-ink book in the face of a rapidly-changed world, pays tribute to the artisans who ensure the transmission of traditional bookmaking skills.
We have been working on this volume with Éditions Imprimerie nationale for over a year, and we are delighted to finally be able to share it with you!
Presentation at the San Francisco Alliance Française
As part of the Fair's side events, our team will present the book at the Alliance Française of San Francisco, and offer a preview of our upcoming publication: Comment naît un livre ? [How is a Book Born?] On this occasion, we will be screening a documentary film by François Goizé that goes behind the scenes of the creation and production of this book, whose launch will be celebrated in France in the fall of 2026.
Join us at the San Francisco Alliance Française (1345 Bush Street, San Francisco, CA 94109) for a reception at 5:30 pm, with the bilingual presentation starting at 6:00 pm! Click here to register - we look forward to seeing you there!
To explore the subject further
CODEX X, Book Art Fair