Montefiascone Project

Montefiascone Summer  2012

Re-creating the Medieval Palette
July 30 - August 3, 2012

Course Tutor: Cheryl Porter

    This class will study the colours (made from rocks, minerals,
    metals, insects and plants) that were processed to produce the
    colours used by artists throughout the medieval era. The focus
    will mostly (though not exclusively) be on manuscript art
    (Islamic and European) and participants will re-create the
    colours using original recipes. Illustrated lectures, will
    address the history, geography, chemistry, iconography and
    conservation issues. Practical making and painting sessions will
    follow these lectures.

The Glazier Codex
August 6 - 10, 2012

Course Tutur: Julia Miller

    The Glazier Codex contains a parchment manuscript of the first
    half of the Acts of the Apostles, written in Coptic and
    illuminated.  The manuscript and its binding are thought to date
    from the late 5th/early 6th century.

    The workshop goal is to make a full size model of the original
    binding. The original text consists of 15 gatherings of vellum
    sheets, 4 sheets (a quaternion) of vellum per gathering; we will
    be substituting paper. The sewing is a link style variation, and
    we will be adding simple link style endbands. The Glazier Codex
    has a decorated leather spine piece that extends beyond the head
    edge of the spine, nearly covering (and thus protecting) the
    head edge of the text block.  One theory is that the tail edge
    of the spine piece extended in a similar fashion to protect the
    tail edge of the text block.  The Codex has bare wooden boards
    with two wrapping bands, one extending from the top edge of the
    upper cover, and one from the fore edge of the upper cover. Each
    wrapping band is finished with a decorated bone slip used to
    anchor the wrapped bands. There is evidence that the codex had a
    bookmark attached to the outer corner of the lower board.

    Workshop lecture and discussion will compare early codex book
    formats found in Egypt using images and models of early
    structures to illustrate structural changes in the codex. Study
    of the binding of the Glazier Codex will be supported through
    extensive images of the original. Handouts, including a reading
    list, will be included in the workshop materials. Basic
    bookbinding skills are required; we will be doing very minimal
    paring the leather we use for the binding but we will be sanding
    wood and bone so please bring a face mask if you prefer. You may
    also wish to bring your own supplies of materials (wood,
    leather, paper) to make additional models and samplers in your
    free time from the teaching model collection, which ranges from
    wooden tablets and papyrus notebooks to a late-Coptic full-size
    model of a Hamuli cover.

The Mudejar Binding
August 13-17, 2012

Course Tutor: Ana Beny

    From Christian Spain, in the 14-16th centuries, as part of the
    heritage of al-Andalus, came the so-called "Mudejar" binding
    style--many with Gothic wooden boards and strong Islamic
    influences in the decoration.

    Through the use of Powerpoint and other resources, the course
    will give an over-view of Gothic binding structures and examine
    previous influences on its evolution and how it, in turn,
    influenced later bindings. Special attention will be focused on
    the characteristics of Spanish bindings throughout this period.

    Participants will construct a full-scale model in order to
    understand the unique features--especially those constructions
    that control the functioning of the spine and its movement.
    Students will sew the text-block, prepare the wooden boards and
    parchment spine lining, make end-bands, board attachment,
    leather covering, anchor clasps and decorate the cover. There
    will also be opportunity to practice the blind-tooled decoration
    with damp and/or heat techniques.

    All materials needed to construct the book can be provided,
    though participants will need to bring basic bookbinding tools.
    Some knowledge of binding is essential as is the motivation to
    work longer hours than is usual for the programme.

Eighteenth Century French Binding
August 20-24, 2012

Course Tutor: Jeff Peachey

    Participants will construct a typical full calf late eighteenth
    century French binding. In some respects, this structure is the
    end of 1,200 years of hand leather binding; by the mid
    nineteenth century the mechanized publisher's cloth case begins
    to predominate.  Particular attention will be given to the
    techniques originally used to make these books, informed by
    close readings of multiple contemporaneous technical
    descriptions-Gauffecourt's 1763 Traite de la Relieure des
    Livres, Diderot's 1765 Encyclopedie and Dudin's 1772 L'Art du
    Relieur-doreur de Livres-the examination of extant bindings, and
    the use of antique and reproduction tools.  Typical features of
    this binding style include a hand beaten textblock, edges
    ploughed in-boards and colored; single or double core endbands,
    vellum spine liners, and several methods of leather decoration.
    Several presentations will contextualize the bindings and
    historic equipment. The numerous problems these structures pose
    for conservators will also be discussed. This workshop is
    constantly updated, incorporating ongoing research. Basic
    bookbinding skills are a prerequisite.

More information:

    <URL:http://jeffpeachey.wordpress.com/workshops-with-peachey/>

Teachers:

    Cheryl Porter has been Director of the Montefiascone Project
    since its inception in 1988. After graduating from Camberwell
    College (University of the Arts, London) she worked at
    University College London Paintings Analysis Unit, analysing the
    use of pigments in paintings and manuscripts. From 1992-2006 she
    worked as a freelance conservator, mostly for universities and
    learned institutions. She was Manager of Conservation and
    Preservation at the Dar al-Kutub (National Library and Archives
    of Egypt) and Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation 2007-2010 and is
    currently employed as a Consultant for a number of institutions
    with book, papyrus and manuscript collections in Egypt. She has
    published many articles concerning colour in manuscripts and has
    lectured in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and throughout
    Europe.

    Julia Miller is a bench-trained conservator who in recent years
    has turned her focus to the study and teaching of historical
    binding structure and style, with a special emphasis on early
    Coptic book structures.  Julia has taught a variety of early
    structures around the U.S. and beyond, and has traveled to Cairo
    twice, in part to study the bindings that originally sparked her
    interest in early bindings, the fourth century single-quire
    bindings known as the Nag Hammadi codices.  In 2008 Julia
    received a Kress Foundation/FAIC conservation publication
    fellowship to write a book on historical structure and style
    titled Books Will Speak Plain: A handbook for identifying and
    describing historical bindings, published by The Legacy Press
    and released in December 2010

        <URL:http://thelegacypress.com>

    The book is directed toward curators, collectors, and
    conservators, and will be of interest to book artists who draw
    on historical structure as a platform for their own work.  Julia
    is currently editing a collection of essays on the history of
    binding and will be a contributor on the subject of American
    scaleboard bindings growing out of a research fellowship at the
    Library Company of Philadelphia in the fall of 2010; the
    collected essays will be published in fall of 2012. She will be
    lecturing or teaching in 2012 for Rare Book School in Virginia,
    the North Bennet Street School in Boston, the Rare Books and
    Manuscript program at the University of Illinois, the Oregon
    College of Arts and Crafts in Portland, and the Montefiascone
    program in Italy.

    Ana Beny is a freelance conservator and consultant, with her own
    workshop in Madrid. Since 1984, when she graduated from the
    "Conservatori de les Arts del Llibre" of Barcelona, she has
    worked on the conservation of artifacts on paper, papyrus and
    parchment, with special dedication to historical bookbinding.
    She has conducted workshops and lectured in the Montefiascone
    Project, Italy, Spain, Greece, Brazil, Philippines and Egypt.
    Currently she collaborates with various institutions, including
    the Polytechnic University of Madrid and with Thesaurus
    Islamicus Foundation and Dar Al-Kutub Manuscript Conservation
    Project in Cairo.

    Jeffrey S. Peachey is the owner of a New York City-based studio
    for the conservation of books and the inventor of conservation
    tools and machines. He is a Professional Associate in the
    American Institute for Conservation and for more than 20 years
    has specialized in the conservation of books for institutions
    and individuals. He was the 2011 Sherman Fairchild Conservation
    Research Fellow at the Morgan Library and Museum, studying the
    structures, tools and techniques of 18th century French
    bookbinding. More information:
    <URL:http://jeffpeachey.wordpress.com/about/>

The cost of the classes is: 445 British pounds ($700 US, 550 Euro)
per week and includes all tuition (which is in English) and (most)
materials. The Montefiascone Project is a not-for-profit
organization, and all extra monies are used to finance the
cataloguing and the conservation and preservation of the collection.

For further information or to register for one week or more, please
contact Cheryl Porter <chezzaporter<-at->yahoo<.>com>

More information is on <URL:http://monteproject.co.uk/en/> and see
Montefiascone-Conservation-Project Facebook page for updates


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 25:38
                 Distributed: Monday, February 20, 2012
                       Message Id: cdl-25-38-024
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