Lecture: ‘Conservation of recycled bindings and fragmentology’ (Parts 1 & 2), SICP Chile

Book conservation involves a tough decision making regarding usability and long term preservation handling.
Sometimes we are dealing with fragmentology, or disjecta membra (fragments of written supports are re-used as part of a binding, with a diverse purpose from the first use) whereas in other cases the purpose is the same, and the whole binding is being recycled to bind a different book.
Incunabula and manuscripts with laced-case and limp vellum bindings are studied. Continue reading →

Lecture: ‘Conservation of reused bindings’ (Part two), Dubrovnik

meetings of conservators and restorers of archival and library materials and art on paper

Lecture: ‘Conservation of re-used bindings’ (Part one) Zagreb

Conservation of book with another binding inside the binding's covers

Conservation of recycled limp vellum wallet binding

Conservation of a manuscript with a palimpsest limp vellum binding with flap. The flap and other missing parts are reconstructed after conservation. Continue reading →

Conservation of a manuscript with one binding inside the other

Not uncommon to find waste material as part of a binding (parchment manuscripts, for instance), but quite much rare when the previous and original binding is part of the boards layers of the current recycled binding!
The outer and visible binding belonged first to a former book, and the hidden binding, to the current, one… crazy! Continue reading →

Conservation of incunabula with fragmentology evidence

(Translation pending) Owner: Public Library Carles Rahola (Girona, Spain), Catalonia Government. Object: 23 Incunabula books, with limp and semi-limp vellum bindings, as well as some full leather on board bindings. There a re examples of fragmentology and disjecta membra, as … Continue reading →