Care & Conservation of Manuscripts, Volume 9 - Proceedings of the Eighth International Seminar Held at the University of Copenhagen, 14th to 15th April 2005

This volume of Care and Conservation of Manuscripts offers: discussions of the history of collection care at the National Library of Iceland * the preservation of medieval parchments at the National Archives of Sweden * the creation of a database for the administration of the manuscript library in the Prague Castle archives * and an optimized work-flow system for a large-scale condition survey of the books in the Library of the St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, Egypt.

Care & Conservation of Manuscripts 2 - Proceedings of the Second International Seminar Held at the University of Copenhagen 16-17 October 1995

Much work is required to ensure the well-being of the manuscripts in the care of libraries, archives and other collections. The international seminars held in Copenhagen provide a good opportunity for conservators, archivists, librarians and those who work with manuscripts to meet and discuss their problems. Care and Conservation of Manuscripts 8 examines wooden bindings, the manufacture of parchment, the conservation of embroidered bindings, the study of paint layers, the restoration of heat-damage parchment, binding decoration and hand tools for Ottoman period manuscripts, biomonitoring of rare books and documents, German stamped bindings, new recipes for the conservation of leather and parchment, as well as codicology and palography. The book is well illustrated and contains references and a list of manuscripts.

Conservation of Books is the highly anticipated reference work on global book structures and their conservation, offering the first modern, comprehensive overview on this subject. The volume takes an international approach to its subject. Written by over 70 specialists in conservation and conservation science based in 19 countries, its 26 chapters cover traditional book structures from around the world, the materials from which they are made and how they degrade, and how to preserve and conserve them. It also examines the theoretical underpinnings of conservation: what and how to treat, and the ethical, cultural, and economic implications of treatment. Technical drawings and photographs illustrate the structures and treatments examined throughout the book. Ultimately, readers gain an in-depth understanding of the materiality of books in numerous global contexts and reflect on the practical considerations involved in their analysis and treatment. Conservation of Books is a quintessential reference work for book conservators and anyone working with books, such as collection managers, librarians, curators, dealers, collectors, historians, and related professionals. It is also an indispensable text for students to complement hands-on training in this field.

The present volume contains twelve chapters authored by specialists of Asian, African and European manuscript cultures reflecting on the cohesion of written artefacts, particularly manuscripts. Assuming that 'codicological units' exist in every manuscript culture and that they are usually composed of discrete elements (such as clay tablets, papyrus sheets, bamboo slips, parchment bifolios, palm leaves), the issue of the cohesion of the constituents is a general one. The volume presents a series of case studies on devices and strategies adopted to achieve this cohesion by manuscript cultures distant in space (from China to West Africa) and time (from the third millennium bce to the present). This comparative view provides the frame for the understanding of a phenomenon that appears to be of essential importance for the study of the structure of written artefacts. Regardless of the way in which cohesion is realised, all strategies and devices that allow the constituents to be kept together are subsumed under the term 'binding'. Thus, it is possible to highlight similarities, convergences, and unique physical and technical methods adopted by various manuscript cultures to face a common challenge.

The conservation of skin, leather and related materials is an area that, until now, has had little representation by the written word in book form. Marion Kite and Roy Thomson, of the Leather Conservation Centre, have prepared a text which is both authoritative and comprehensive, including contributions from the leading specialists in their fields, such as Betty Haines, Mary Lou Florian, Ester Cameron and Jim Spriggs. The book covers all aspects of Skin and Leather preservation, from Cuir Bouillie to Bookbindings. There is significant discussion of the technical and chemical elements necessary in conservation, meaning that professional conservators will find the book a vital part of their collection. As part of the Butterworth-Heinemann Black series, the book carries the stamp of approval of the leading figures in the world of Conservation and Museology, and as such it is the only publication available on the topic carrying this immediate mark of authority.