Waters, Peter ( 1930- )
An English bookbinder and conservator who studied
bookbinding under William Matthews at the Guilford
College of Art, Surrey after which he attended the
Royal College of Art, London. He then worked for
three years with Roger Powell before entering as a
partner in the firm of Powell and Waters in 1956.
In this same year, Waters succeeded Powell as
lecturer in bookbinding at the Royal College of
Art. From 1956 to 1971, he executed a number of
bindings for private collectors museums. and
presentation, and worked with Powell in the repair
and restoration of a number of valuable books in
the libraries of Trinity College, Dublin, Aberdeen
and Winchester Universities. and others. In 1966
Waters served as consultant to the Biblioteca
Nazionale Florence, Italy, as Technicial Director
for the restoration of flood-damaged collections
and was principally responsible for the design and
incorporation of the restoration system employed.
From 1968 to 1971 he was codirector with James
Lewis of a research project at the Imperial
College of Science and Technology, London,
relating to the conservation of library materials.
In 1971 Waters was appointed Restoration Officer
in the Preservation Office of the Library of
Congress. There he inaugurated new concepts and
programs relating to the conservation of the
Library's extensive collection of books
manuscripts, maps, and other archival materials.
Waters' philosophy has been rooted in the Bauhaus
tradition of "fitness for purpose" in design,
which through his extensive knowledge of book
structure has found expression ranging from the
binding of individual books to the planning of
comprehensive conservation measures culminating in
his now widely followed concept of "phased
preservation."
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