Volume 10, Number 3
Jun 1986

Professional Events in the News

• In April, the Pacific Center for the Book Arts, with two other organizations, sponsored a lecture by Benjamin Vorst of the London firm of Benyon, Ltd. (vellum manufacturers), on "Research and Rediscovery of Medieval Vellum." People in southern California heard it on April 7, and in northern California they heard it on April 9.
• On May 24, there was an all-day symposium at Harvard, "Ebru: a Symposium on the Art of Marbling in the Islamic World." It was given in conjunction with an exhibition of the sane name, and included lectures on the history of marbling in India, Iran, Turkey, China, Japan and its subsequent adoption in Europe. There were demonstrations by master marbler Niyazi Sayin of Istanbul and professional marblers Nedim Sönmez, Christopher Weimann and Richard Wolfe. In the evening there was a concert of Turkish classical music by Niyazi Sayin and the Eurasian Ensemble.

  There were several other speakers, including Stéphan Ipert, who cane from France to speak on marbling in China and Japan. Don Guyot did not speak, but participants watched his videotape "Ebru: Turkish Marbling in the Turkish Tradition."

• The Guild of Book Workers' travelling exhibition, entitled "Bookwork: Form - Function - Finish in the Modern Craft of Handbookbinding," will be in Toronto through June 28 (Metropolitan Toronto Library, 789 Yonge St.); Winnipeg. July 22 through August 29 (Provincial Archives of Manitoba, 200 Vaughan Ave.); and Victoria, September 15 through October 13 (Maltwood Art Museum & Gallery, University of Victoria). The purpose of this exhibition is to demonstrate excellent work in all major categories of bookbinding. It was conceived originally as a necessary preliminary step in a certification program, if the Guild were ever to adopt one. The annual seminars on excellence and the travelling exhibition supplement each other.
• The Columbia Rare Book School 1986 will hold most of its one-week courses from July 7 to 25. Two bibliography courses will be fit in before the ALA conference, starting June 16. There will be 17 courses in all, some of which will be all-day courses at $400, and some half-day courses at $300. They include:

  Medieval and Early Renaissance Bookbinding Structures. Instructor: Christopher Clarkson. Mornings, 14-18 July.

  Italian Humanistic Manuscripts of the 15th Century. This is an introduction on the historical background and codicology of humanistic manuscripts. Instructor: Albinia de la Mare. Mornings, 14-18 July.

  Evidence of Ownership: Tools and Techniques for Investigating the History of an Early Printed Book. Instructors: Nicolas Barker and Robin Halwas. All day, 7-11 July.

  Developing Preservation Programs in Special Collections Departments. Instructor: Jan Merrill-Oldham. Afternoons 7-11 July.

  For brochure and application form, write Rare Book School, School of Library Service, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027.

• The Institute of Paper Chemistry has already given three of its 1986 Continuing Education Programs, but the following are still to come:

  Paper Fiber Analysis - July 15-24, W. J. Rantanen

  Paper Properties and Their Measurement - August 25-29, J. F. Waterhouse

  Fiber and Paper Physics - September 9-12, C. A. Baum

  Contact Kathy Stanek, Coordinator of Continuing Education, the Institute of Paper Chemistry, P.O. Box 1039, Appleton, WI 54912, 414/738-3315.

  Some of the papers that will be given August 10-15 at the ICCM meeting in Adelaide, Australia, are:

  Preservation and Conservation in Australian Libraries--Conflict or Complement? by Jan Lyall

  The Role of Water in the Deterioration of Materials and How to Control It, by Tim Padfield

  Reproduction [of?] Materials at the Queensland State Archives, by Tamara Lavrencic

  The Chemical Identification of Iron Gall Inks, by Michael Snow

  Book Conservation in Australia: Preliminary Thoughts, by Ron Eadie

  This does not exhaust the list of papers relevant to book and paper conservation. In addition, there will be workshops on rebacking of books, photo conservation and replication, mounting large works on paper supports, FTIR, and Japanese and Chinese style binding. $175 for nonmembers till July 31, then $190 Australian dollars (about $125 and $135 US). Write ICCM Conference Registration, do State Conservation Centre, 70 Kintore Ave., Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia.

• On August 29-30, the Leather Conservation Centre is sponsoring a seminar, "Leather -- Its Composition and Changes with Time," at Nene College Park Campus, Northampton, England. It will provide information on the structure and chemical composition of leather and skin and their affect on aging under various conditions. The first day will cover the preparation of leather past and present, including the mechanisms of tannage, the role of lubricants and the types of pigments, dyes and surface coating used on leather. The second day will be devoted to the different ways in which skin and leather deteriorate with time under conditions such as exposure to light, fluctuating RH and atmospheric pollutants. Nonresident £35; resident £60. Write Christopher Calnan, Leather Conservation Centre, Leather Trade Mouse, Kings Park Road, Moulton Park, Northampton NN3 1JD).

  There will be ten speakers, of which three are familiar to conservators: Betty Haines, Chris Calnan and Chris Clark-son. The other seven are from the British Leather Confederation, the International Wool Secretariat, Manchester Museum, a tannery and a chemical company.

• September 16-19, in Edinburgh, the Society of Archivists' Annual Instructional Meeting for Archive Conservators will be hosted by the University of Edinburgh and coordinated by John McIntyre of the National Library of Scotland. An attempt is being made to include two eminent Russian conservators among the speakers. Topics to be covered are costs, environmental control, training and mass treatment in Russia, needle drilling and attaching boards, minimum repairs, preservation by substitution, the Domesday Book, and washing and deacidifying. Cost to nonmembers: £42, plus room and board. Deadline for application: June 30. Write John McIntyre, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 lEW, Scotland.

  There will also be tours and seminars (e.g. on limp vellum binding, microcomputers for conservation records, leaf-casting, disaster control, sewing structures and soon).