Course on European bookbinding, 1500-1800

European Bookbinding, 1500 - 1800
Tutor: Dr. Nicholas Pickwoad, Norwich, GB
Language: English
September 25-27, 2001
at Bauhaus-Archiv, Berlin, Germany

The history of bookbinding is not simply the history of a decorative
art, but that of a craft answering a commercial need. This course
will follow European bookbinding from the end of the Middle Ages to
the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, using the bindings
themselves to illustrate the aims and intentions of the binding
trade. A large part of the course will be devoted to the
identification of both broad and detailed distinctions within the
larger groups of plain commercial bindings and the possibilities of
identifying the work of different countries, cities, even workshops
without reference to finishing tools. The identification and
significance of the different materials used in bookbinding will be
examined, as well as the classification of bookbindings by
structural type, and how these types developed through the three
centuries covered by the course. The development of binding
decoration will be touched on, but will not form a major part of the
discussion.

The course consists of ten 90-minute sessions with slides, with time
for discussion and questions at the end. The students are expected
to have a sound knowledge of bookbinding terms and a basic knowledge
of the history of book production in the period under discussion.
The purpose of the course is to encourage an awareness of the
possibilities latent in the detailed study of bookbindings and is
thus aimed at all those handling books bound in this period, but it
has particular relevance for all those involved in the repair and
conservation of such, whether conservators and binders or curators
and collectors.

Information and registration:

    Verband der Restauratoren (VDR) e.V.
    Geschaftsstelle
    Hannelore Wimmel
    Postfach 1208
    79250 Stegen
    Germany
    +49 7661 61036
    Fax: +49 7661 62150
    adr-wimmel [at] t-online__de

Almuth Corbach
Restauratorin
Herzog August Bibliothek
Schlossplatz 5-6
D-38304 Wolfenbuettel
+49 5331 808 218
Fax: +49 5331 808 302


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 15:15
                 Distributed: Wednesday, August 8, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-15-15-025
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