Talk on Latvian peasant bookbindings

On Sunday, January 29, at 2 pm, Robert J. Milevski will present an
illustrated talk entitled "Reading the Bible, Preserving the
Precious Text: Latvian Peasant Metal-Clad Bindings." The talk will
be held at the Philadelphia Society of Free Letts building at 531 N.
7th Street (at Spring Garden), in Philadelphia.

This talk outlines Latvian peasant and religious history and then
concentrates on examining these unique bookbindings.Topics include:
the importance of these religious books and who owned them; where
these bindings were produced and who produced them; similar
historical bindings that were exemplars for metal ornamentation;
materials used and different design types; where these bindings are
found now; and why they are important to book history.

Robert J. Milevski, now retired, was Preservation Librarian at
Princeton University Library from 1991-2011. An article with the
same title as the talk, co-authored with Valdis Villerus(s, appeared
in Library History, volume 24, no. 2 (June 2008): 128-142.

The Philadelphia Society of Free Letts is the oldest Latvian Society
outside of Latvia. Established as a settlement house in 1892 by
Lettlanders fleeing oppression in Tsarist Russia, the organization
has served generations of Latvians coming to the United States and
advocated for Latvian independence during the Soviet era. It exists
today as a community center and research facility with an explicit
mission to forward and support Latvian culture.

This talk is one of 120 events being staged throughout 2012
celebrating the 120th anniversary of the Society. Directions may be
found on its website:

    <URL:http://latviansociety.com/Default.aspx?pageId=691005>


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 25:32
                  Distributed: Monday, January 9, 2012
                       Message Id: cdl-25-32-006
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