Frances Casey, PhD Research Placement

It is perhaps not widely known that the British Library has a diverse and fascinating range of textiles which span all collection areas. These textiles range from fabric covers for Torah scrolls and silk escape maps of Berlin, to a Japanese children’s book resembling a baby in a sleeping bag and Captain Cook’s samples of bark cloth from the South Pacific Islands. Yet, despite the number of textiles in the collections, many of these have not been recorded or catalogued in their own right, although most have a Library shelfmark. If textile items have been catalogued in the Library, then their descriptions can be inconsistent.

Following on from an investigation by the Library’s Textile Conservator, Liz Rose, my role as part of the British Library’s PhD placement scheme was to identify textiles in the Library and record information about them into a textile specific database. This involved referring to and searching the Library catalogues, as well as liaising with curators across collections to view textile items, photograph them, and input their details into the textile database using the Library’s shelfmark system.

Despite the wide variety of textiles in the Library, it is possible to identify three general forms that they take in the collections. These can be loosely termed: Textual Textiles; Associated Textiles; and Component Textiles – although some can be a combination of these.

Textual Textiles

As the library is primarily concerned with written content as well as images and sound, books and manuscripts comprise the main part of the Library collections. In some cases, textiles can take the form of the text and image items. For example, the theatrical playbill shown here is printed on silk. This playbill is the ‘textual’ item of interest to the library.

Theatrical Playbill, 1850 (Tab 689 a 2).

 

Associated Textiles

Textile items can also be associated with written content or image items, although they may not form the specific item of interest to the Library. For example, the Torah mantle illustrated is associated with a written Torah. This mantle may have been re-used from another purpose, and so this textile potentially has an alternative history and associations, e.g. those of design, which are in addition to those of its role as a mantle. Associated textiles are often items that have been obtained by the Library alongside text or image items, i.e. they have not been collected in their own right.

Torah Mantle, 1750-1899 (OMS/Or 13027/2).

Component Textiles: These can be Symbolic and Functional

Textiles can also be a component part of the text item: symbolic or functional. For example, the embroidered book cover shown here refers to the content of the bible through the symbolism of the cover design. It therefore has both a symbolic and functional role. There are many textile book jackets and doublures in the Library, and these textile features often add significance to the text content.

Holy Bible, 1648 (C.8.g .13).

This placement research project has emphasised that textiles are part of the story of the objects in the Library. They have a relationship to the written content, and understanding them can help us to understand that content.

Although the British Library catalogues are a rich source of textile information, there is not one foolproof or consistent way of extracting textile information from them. It is helpful to cross reference catalogues for further information, in particular textiles can be found in the Explore, Archives and Manuscripts, Illuminated Manuscripts, Digitised Manuscripts and Bookbindings catalogues.

The Textile Database

The textile specific database has been designed to incorporate details of textile features, whilst also maintain a link and reference to the existing catalogue records. The information recorded in the database includes details of the Library Division/Department/Collection; Shelfmark; British Library catalogue description; Textile related description and components; and assessment photographs. At the moment, this database is only used for in-house Library reference by the textile conservator, but there may be the potential to make this information accessible to the public in the future.

During this research, 155 shelfmarks were recorded resulting in a total of 1,074 textile items identified in the textile database. The discrepancy between the shelfmark numbers and the number of textile items is due to the way in which more than one textile can be recorded under a single shelfmark. As a result of information gathered during the placement, there are 190 more shelfmarks to add to the database, and the records associated with these are prepared for continuation of this useful research.

Bradford Manufacturing Company, cloth sample, c1880, (Evan. 7152).

In the future, the quantity of textile items recorded will continue to grow as items are discovered in the collections or acquired by the Library. As textiles are present in all collecting Divisions of the Library, and they continue to enter the collections, recording textiles is best seen as an ongoing activity rather than a finite project. Based upon the fact that textiles span the Library, it is likely that there are at least 10,000 textile items across the British Library collection, although this is likely to be quite a conservative estimate.

Aḍhāī-dvīpa, Hindi Jain cosmic diagram, 1830, (Add.Or.1814). Polychrome water based paint on cotton.

Future Research

We are then left with the question, what use might this research be put to in the future? Once textile items are identified and located, it is possible to plan for their long-term care. Preventative conservation can take place and storage needs can be assessed. It is also possible to carry out remedial conservation work. For example, as a result of enquiries into textile items in the collections, the Cosmic Jain Diagram shown here was identified for treatment to reduce folds, stabilise flaking paint and rehouse.

Information about textiles also has the potential to enrich our knowledge about the Library’s collections. It can be used to develop research and inform Library exhibitions. Research which starts with textile information has the potential to draw out associations that we might otherwise miss. This placement project therefore lays a foundation to be built upon in the future.

For further information about textiles in the Library, or to book a tour of textile items, contact Liz Rose, Textile Conservator on [email protected]

Evanthia Samaras, PhD placement - Digital Preservation 

Malware, or ‘malicious software’ such as computer viruses are a significant digital collection care challenge. The British Library collects a large range of digital content, so it is important that we identify any malware that could potentially put the digital collections, or our users, at risk. We also need to properly consider the question: How should we deal with malware-infected materials in digital collections?

How do we identify malware?

The Library has strict processes in place to check for malware in digital collections. For example:

• As part of our Flashback disk imaging project, we have scanned over 16,000 floppy, CD and DVD discs from the 1980s to 2000s for malware using anti-virus software. Infected items are then moved to a designated ‘quarantine’ area.
• For websites collected as part of the UK Web Archive, the Library scans every file collected (over several billion files each year!). Website files infected with malware are quarantined and ‘deactivated’ using an encryption tool so that the files cannot be read or opened (see this blog for more information).

Compared to other institutions around the world, we actually do more virus checking than many other libraries (especially for our web archives).

What are the options for dealing with malware?

The four main options for dealing with malware-infected material are:

• Discard the malware.
• Put aside and quarantine (then process at a later date).
• Fix them (try to remove malware).
• Try to get another clean version from publisher/donor.

There is also another option: Keeping the malware as a collection in its own right.

Should we collect malware?

Scholars such as Jonathan Farbowitz of New York University argue that we should be preserving malware. He suggests that:

Malware is a form of cultural heritage and an important part of the historical record… If malware were not preserved, a significant portion of contemporary computer users’ experiences as well as the “texture” of the internet and of computing itself would be lost (pp. 10, 12).

If the British Library were to start forming collections of malware, how could we ensure they are maintained safely over time?

Computer security and anti-virus software companies collect examples of malware for research and development (see the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization’s Real-Time Threat List). Therefore, it is indeed possible to keep malware in controlled environments over time to facilitate study.

But it is less clear whether libraries should take custodianship of such material. Could it jeopardise the ongoing care of our digital collections?

Malware in the future

It is expected that the British Library will have to deal with malware for many years to come. Making sure our collections remain safe and usable for our readers is a priority for the Library. Yet it is also important that we consider what our readers may want to access in the future. Perhaps malware could be a collection in its own right? But for now, we will continue to tread with caution when dealing with malware in our digital collections.

‘Cats on the Page’ is a free exhibition now open in the front entrance hall of the British Library running until Sunday 17 March 2019.

Have you ever wondered how all the items for an exhibition are prepared?

Once the exhibition concept has been approved and the curators have chosen all the items that they would like to display in the exhibition, conservation becomes involved.

We start by examining each item and checking for the following things:

• Condition: is it in a condition that is stable for display?
• Treatment: does it require any conservation treatment to make it stable for display? If so, how much?
• Display: How is it going to be displayed, does it need any special mounting?
• Vulnerability: Is it particularly sensitive to light or environmental changes?
• Touring: Is it suitable for display at multiple venues?

Any exhibition can have between 100 – 300 items selected for display and are spread over many different departments, so assessing each item can be time consuming.

 

Once everything has been assessed anything that requires treatment is arranged to be delivered to the conservation studio, this will usually be about 4-5 months prior to the install of the exhibition (or longer if needed due to high amounts of treatment required).

All items arriving in the conservation studio are brought up on a ticket which has a special code for the conservation department. Not only this, but everything is also entered into our ‘tracker’ book, which allows everything to be signed in and out of the studio.

The types of treatments that we undertake in preparation for an exhibition can range from simple treatments such tear repairs to the opening page or more in-depth treatments such as board attachments and pigment consolidation. Due to the high number of items that need preparation for exhibition, anything that requires more than 10 hours of treatment will generally be removed from the exhibition list and handed over to the Conservation collection care teams for full treatment.

This copy of ‘Puss in Boots’ is a pop-up book that was just one of the items that required treatment prior to going on display.

Pop-up books are inherently fragile because of the moving parts but this book is also made from very poor quality card that has become very acidic and brittle over the years. It required some minor treatment in preparation for its inclusion into the exhibition.

 

The Exhibitions team order custom made book supports for each book, specific to the page opening.

The book is strapped to the book cradle, using Melinex® strapping to help it stay open during the exhibition. It is then ready to be installed into the showcase by the Exhibitions install team with the other material.

The variety of different books and artworks have highlighted the love of our furry friends, ‘Cats on the Page’ is open for three months and free to visit, so don’t miss this lovely exhibition!

 

Alexa McNaught-Reynolds, Conservation Exhibition and Loan Manager

Well, mostly books and newspapers, but other objects in the British Library collection too. We do this at our Boston Spa, West Yorkshire site, where the Collection Care North team are based. They make around 15,000 boxes a year.

What do we box?

• Legal Deposit newspapers, national and regional titles.
• Damaged books.
• Books that have received conservation treatment.
• Fragile and/or valuable books.
• 3D objects, for example the 3,000 year old Chinese oracle bones, artefacts from the Punch Magazine archive.

Some of the Chinese Oracle bones in their storage box

 

Repaired book with a phase box.

 

How do we make boxes?

We have two digital flatbed cutting machines that cut and crease the card for us. The only manual bit is placing a sheet of box board on the machine and taking the cut out board and folding it into the box.

Six boxes cut out of one sheet of box board, ready for folding.

The machine has three tool heads:

• A blade to the cut the card.
• A creasing wheel that marks out the folds.
• A pen that we can use to write the book or object information on the outside of the box, so no need for sticky labels. 

Left to right: cutting blade; creasing wheel, pen.

 

There are a few different designs of box that we use depending on what item the box is for. All of our boxes are made to a bespoke size. If the item is stored/arrived at Boston Spa we measure them on site. If any boxes are requested for items in St. Pancras, then the measurements are sent to us.

Book/newspaper measurer.

The boxes have to fit snugly to the item so that it can’t move around inside. This is particularly important for the newspapers that are boxed. Several editions go in one box; a weeks’ worth of one national title, or a months’ worth of a regional paper. If the box is too big and allows the newspapers inside to move about, this will cause them damage, but it will also potentially cause problems in the store. The National Newspaper Building at Boston Spa is home to the National Newspaper Archive. The building is a high density store, with capacity to store 60 million newspapers. To aid fast retrieval of requested items from the shelves, which are 20 meters high, robotic cranes operate in the store. If a box was too big for a bundle of newspapers and they moved about inside as they were being retrieved this could cause the crane to malfunction with the unexpected shift in weight of the box.

Box board

We use four different types of box board. There are two main differences between them; thickness and structural design. We use a solid card in thicknesses of 6.5 mm and 1 mm, and a corrugated card in thicknesses of 1.1 mm and 1.3 mm. The type of box board chosen depends on the size and weight of the item being boxed.

Sample of 1.3 mm thick corrugated box board.

The corrugated card is stronger, so used on very big or heavy books. However it is thicker and will take up more space on a shelf, so we can’t box everything in the strongest card if it doesn’t require it and a thinner card will offer the necessary protection.

Boxes ready for folding.

Advantages of boxing

• A large range of designs available to suit all kinds of objects, made to bespoke measurements.
• Reduces potential physical damage caused by handling and transport.
• Protects against dust and other contaminants.
• Buffers against changes in temperature and relative humidity. Incorrect levels of either can lead to chemical and physical deterioration.
• Quick and efficient option to protect fragile/vulnerable/damaged items.

Collection Care Support Assistant operating one of the digital flatbed cutting machines.

 

Disadvantages of boxing

• By placing an item in a box, we are making the item bigger, even if only by millimetres, so a boxed item will take up more room on a shelf.

So if you ever receive an item in one of the British Library reading rooms or from our remote supply service and it’s in a box, that item is probably fragile - so please handle carefully. Boxes proudly made in Yorkshire!

 

Emily Watts, Collection Care North Manager

As part of London Fashion Week Nabil Nayal hosted his presentation at the British Library on Tuesday 18 September. He is an advocate of ‘research in fashion education and practice’ and has used the collections at the British Library extensively. The image below shows how he used Elizabeth I’s famous Tilbury Speech as inspiration for one of his printed textiles.

www.nabilnayal.com

The Library Collections are diverse and complex, representing many cultures and comprises of published, written and digital content together with letters photographs, paintings, newspapers, sound recordings, videos, objects and textiles.

Textiles are found in all curatorial divisions: Contemporary British; Western Heritage, European and American and most widely in the Asia and African collections. As textile conservator, I have chosen a few of the most beautiful and inspirational objects.

Royal MS 12C VIII 1 – Chemise book jacket with the badge and motto of Prince Henry Frederick (1594-1612): red velvet, silver and gold metal thread and seed pearls.

See the item online here. 

Or 1234 – Manuscript with blue silk pages and red silk embroidery.

Qianlong's Ten Victories: chronicle of ten successful campaigns conducted by the Emperor in 1790. The author is the Emperor himself, and the manuscript contains the Emperor’s own handwriting embroidered on silk.

Explore and learn more about this item here.

MSS EUR G59 – Large ceremonial, silk brocade bag which housed an ‘Ornamental Letter of Credence, dated 27 Oct 1835, from `Louis Philippe Empereur des Francais' (1773-1850) to Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839), ruler of the Punjab 1792-1839’.

Explore and learn more about this item here.

Unfortunately, the above items are all restricted due to their fragile and rare status. Letters of introduction can be written to the curators to request permission to view restricted items.

LIZ ROSE, Textile conservator

My name is Wanda Robins, and I am studying book conservation at Camberwell College of Arts, in London. A key component of the Camberwell program is to provide students with ample practical work experience in historical institutions to consolidate the theoretic knowledge gained at university. In addition to one-day per week placements throughout the school year, every student completes a four to six-week summer work placement between the first and second year, which is an opportunity to work on more complex projects and experience full time work in a conservation studio.

I was fortunate to have my placement at the British Library Conservation Centre (BLCC) and had an opportunity to work on an exciting project to rehouse two 12th century parchment charters that were gifted to the British Library from Abbey College, Ramsey.

Ramsey Abbey was a Benedictine abbey founded in AD 969 in what is now Cambridgeshire. The two charters bear the seals of Henry I (king from 1100 – 1135) and Henry II (king from 1154-1189) and grant the surrounding land to the Abbey.

The curators and the conservation team determined that the charters should be rehoused due to the acidic mount board and the frame was not well sealed. It was also apparent that the charters were pasted down to board, which constricts the natural movement of parchment, and would ultimately be detrimental to the charters.

Before Pictures:

 

Original frame and condition: frame has gaps and is sealed with tape on back.

Charter with Seal of Henry I, in original housing.

 

Charter is fixed directly to board backing.

Charter with Seal of Henry II, in original housing.

 

Backing Removal

Taking the charters out of the original housing proved to be a bit of a challenge – it turns out that someone took a great deal of time to engineer a safe way to mount the seals so they could be set safely within the mount. The seals were set within tubes with cotton pads and cotton wool.

To lift the parchment off the backing board, we tested with an 80/20 solution of isopropanol to water, which proved effective.

Once we had this worked out, I worked from the back and removed layer after layer of the backing board, moistening with a damp sponge. Once I reached the back of the parchment, I used the isopropanol/water solution to reactivate the animal glue so I could remove it with a micro-spatula.

 

Tools used for backing removal.

It took me several days to get the backing off and in the end, I couldn’t remove everything. There was a notable difference in the two charters, as the older one was much more degraded, so we decided that we would leave a skim of the paper backing and not risk damaging the parchment further.

Once all the backing was removed we found additional writing on the verso of the charter.

During the cleaning process, we noticed that the seal of the older charter, though likely wax, has a grainy texture, and was shedding bits and granules. One of the senior conservators recommended that we consolidate it with a synthetic adhesive, Paraloid B72.

Finally, to work out a new mount and storage for the charters, we discussed various ways of tabbing the charters to fix them to a mount board. We planned the tabs first.

Using a light Japanese tissue, we attached small splints to the verso to keep the various strips of parchment in place and protected.

 

We cut uniform sized tabs of Japanese tissue with a water pen and attached these to the verso with a light application of wheat starch paste. This can easily be removed in the future, if needed.

Once the tabs were adhered to the verso of the charters, we cut slits into a sheet of Plastazote foam and pushed the tabs through the Plastazote so that they would not be visible from the recto.

 

The effect was a bit like the charter is floating on top of the foam. The charters are secure and they cannot move around. The Plastazote could also accommodate a small indentation cut into it to support the wax seals

Within its new mount board:

 

I was able to get both charters and the two descriptive labels all housed and ready for a new box. It was a really exciting and interesting project to learn about and get to experience. I am so grateful to the various staff that supported me and helped me through it.

During my month at the BLCC I was given the opportunity to share this project with three different public tours. This was really fun and also meant a lot to me as I as I had first become interested in conservation by attending a public tour of the BLCC in 2015.

To celebrate #NationalBookLoversDay, I’ve decided to write a follow-up blog to my previous post, A Taste of Training. As discussed in my first blog post, one of the activities I am involved with as a Preventive Conservator here at the British Library is training. In this post, I’d like to share some of the information we deliver when providing book handling training sessions, focusing on various binding styles and the tools you can use to help prevent damage. A great way to show your love for books is to handle them with care!

Risks to books

Books may be vulnerable for a number of reasons. A book might be constructed from materials which are poor quality or the book may have been housed in less-than-ideal storage or environmental conditions. The format of the book itself can also cause damage, so it’s important to know how to handle different types of books and account for each format’s weaknesses.

Book supports and weights

Book supports are a great way to minimise damage when using a book. They restrict the opening angle of a book and provide support while the book is being used. This helps to prevent damage to the spine and boards.  Book supports commonly come in the form of foam wedges, but you can also find other styles, including cradles with cushions and cushions on their own.

Weights are another useful tool when using books. Books are, generally speaking, not made to open flat, which can result in pages that want to spring upwards. Rather than pressing down on the pages and potentially causing damage, it’s better to gently lay a weight on the page. Just take care not to place the weights directly on any areas with text or images—these areas may be fragile and susceptible to damage.

   
From left to right: A book on foam supports, a cradle with a cushion, and a cushion, with snake weights preventing the pages from springing upwards.

Now let’s discuss specific binding styles.

Flexible tight back books

A flexible tight back is a book which has the covering material (often leather) adhered directly to the spine. This means that the covering material flexes as the book is opened and closed. This can cause cracking along the spine, and will worsen as the leather and paper degrade.   

Vertical cracking along the spine of a rigid tight back book (please note that this image, along with all others, shows a sample book and not a collection item; books should not normally be placed on their foredge).

 

A partially bound flexible tight back with minimal lining between the text block and the leather covering.

When using a flexible tight back book, place the boards on foam wedges. You may also find it beneficial to use a spine support piece--a thin strip of foam placed in the centre to help support the fragile spine, as seen below. 

A flexible tight back book on foam book supports with spine support piece.

 

Rigid tight back

A rigid tight back book has more material covering the spine, which makes the spine rigid and more robust. This rigid spine causes the book to have a restricted opening, and the pages of the book will spring upward when opened. The rigid spine can also cause a weakness in the joint--the area where the book boards meet the spine--and may lead to the boards detaching.   

Whilst not a rigid tight back, this image does show a book with its boards detached—this type of damage is common with rigid tight back books.

 

A partially bound rigid tight back showing a more built up spine: book board is present between the text block and leather, highlighted in the white square.

 

Rigid tight back books do not need a spine support piece. Instead, the focus should be on supporting the boards with wedges and leaving space in the centre for the spine. 

A rigid tight back book on foam book supports; note the pages springing up rather than lying flat.

 

Case bindings

Now let’s get into a couple of the more common types of bindings, which everyone is likely to have on their bookshelf. A case binding, or hardback book, features a textblock which is adhered to the case (or boards) by pasting a piece of paper to the textblock and the case. Over time, the case can split away from the textblock, causing pages and/or the textblock to come loose, and possibly detach completely. To prevent damage to your hardbacks, we recommend restricting the opening angle so as to not cause too much strain to that single piece of paper holding the textblock to the case.   

Showing the piece of paper adhering the textblock to the case.

 

The text block has split from the case, causing some pages to detach and the textblock as a whole to be loose.

 

Perfect bindings

Perfect bindings, or paperback books, are made by glueing the textblock directly to the cover. They are not made to be long-lasting, and as a result, are often made from poor quality materials. As the adhesive fails, pages will detach and come loose. Paperback books are also not very flexible, so they won’t open well. To keep your paperbacks in the best condition possible, restrict the opening angle so you’re not causing a stress point where the adhesive can fail easily.      

 
Left and right: The pages have detached from the cover of this book.

Safe handling

Finally, I’d like to share some general best practice tips to help you safely handle your books:

• Ensure your hands are clean and dry when handling books
• Be aware of long jewellery or loose clothing which can catch
• Lift books instead of sliding or dragging them
• Don’t carry too many books at one time
• Handle your books with care and be sure to take your time

If you’re using our reading rooms and do not see any book supports or weights around, simply ask Reading Room staff and they will provide them for you. The more time you take to ensure you’re using best practice when handling books, the longer your favourite books will survive!

Happy #NationalBookLoversDay!

Nicole Monjeau

The British Library Centre for Conservation offers four deaf tours a year with a sign language interpreter. The next tour is on Wednesday 05 September at 2.00 pm. 

Six free tickets have been reserved for the 05 September tour and are available by emailing Conservation Tours: [email protected] using the reference Free ticket BLCC 05 09. Tickets will be offered on a first come first served basis. 

Ticket information: Full Price: £10.00; Member: £8.00; Under 18: £8.00 and other concessions may be available.

All tours leave from the main information desk at 2.00 pm. Please be aware that there is a considerable amount of walking and standing as the tour lasts for approximately 60 minutes. 

Roger, Book and Paper Conservator and Wayne, Sign Language Interpreter. Image © British Library Board

 

Please remember that:

• Bags and coats cannot be taken into the BLCC but can be left in the Conservation Manager’s secure office
• Unfortunately the tour is not suitable for children under 12 
• There is also a tour on Wednesday 06 December at 2.00 pm – information will be available on https://www.bl.uk/events/conservation-studios-guided-tour 

British Library Centre for Conservation (BLCC) Summer workshops

'Twined end-bands in the bookbinding traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean’

BOOK NOW

Dates: Monday 23rd to Friday 27th July 2018
Times: 9.30–17.30
Full price: £400, no concessions
Location: Foyle Conference Centre British Library Centre for Conservation (BLCC)
Class size: Maximum 12 participants
Level: Our workshop is designed for conservators and bookbinders with good understanding and hands on experience in making/sewing book end-bands.

Course description
Although beautiful to look at and interesting to reproduce end-bands have much more to tell about their provenance, their evolution, their purpose and their relation with other crafts.

Twined end-bands often also called woven end-bands represent a distinct category of rather elaborate compound end-bands commonly found in one variation or the other in virtually all the bookbinding traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean.

The aim of this 5-day practical course is to demonstrate and clarify the characteristics of these end-bands and explain their basic technical and decorative variations. Over the curse of the week participants will be able to make at least five different twined end-bands –a Coptic, an Islamic, a Syriac, a Byzantine, an Armenian, and a tablet woven end-band to be taken away at the end of the course.

An introductory lecture will explain their evolution in time and place, their classification and terminology, their structural and decorative features as well as their relation to fabric-making techniques. Working materials, a hand out with explanatory drawings and some reading material will be also provided.

Tutor
Our workshop is led by
Dr. Georgios Boudalis, Head of Book and Paper Conservation at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Day 1
Tea, coffee and registration
Theoretical and technical introduction.

Morning session: Introductory lecture on end-bands, their history and function within the
evolution of historical book structure, with special focus on twined end-bands.
Afternoon session: Hands-on exploring the basic technique of twining and its structural and
decorative variations.

Day 2
The day is dedicated to a very simple Coptic and an Islamic twined end-band, the later representing probably the type of twined end-band most people are familiar with.

Morning session: Coptic split-twined end-band.
Afternoon session: Islamic twined end-band.

Day 3
As participants are becoming more familiar with twining they work on more complicated types of twined end-bands found on closely related binding traditions. Although these end-bands are structurally identical they greatly differ in decorative patterns.

Morning session: Syriac twined end-band.
Afternoon session: Byzantine twined end-band

Day 4
The day is dedicated to what is possibly the most complicated and time consuming twined endband - that found in Armenian bindings.

Morning session: Armenian end-band
Afternoon session: continue

Day 5
The final day is dedicated to the use of the ancient technique of tablet weaving to make a twined end band. This type of end-band, identified only recently and found in 15th-16th-century Russian and Byzantine bindings, is a good example how fabric-making techniques were adapted for making the end-bands in books.

Morning session: The tablet-woven end-band
Afternoon session: continue

Tutor’s biography
Georgios Boudalis is the head of the book and paper conservation laboratory at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki/Greece. He has worked in various manuscript collections primarily in monasteries such as those of Mount Athos and Sinai. He has completed his PhD in 2005 on the evolution of Byzantine and post-Byzantine bookbinding and has published on issues of bookbinding history and manuscript conservation. His main interests are the evolution of bookbinding techniques in the Eastern Mediterranean and since 2006 he has been teaching courses on the history of Byzantine and related bookbinding both on a historical and practical basis. He is the curator of the exhibition ‘The Codex and Crafts in late Antiquity’ held in Bard Graduate centre, N.Y. between February and June 2018 and has written a monograph with the same title to accompany this exhibition, published by Bard Graduate Centre.

Previous skills, knowledge or experience
The course is addresses to both book conservators and bookbinders, it is meant to be intensive and therefore participants are required to have previous practical experience of the subject.

Equipment and Wi-Fi
All materials and tools will be provided.

Certificate
Certificate of attendance signed by British Library’s representative and course tutor will be issued at the end of the five day workshop.

Facilities and refreshments
The British Library offers a variety of options for tea/coffee and food available on site and it is conveniently located within London with easy reach to other facilities.
Food can also be taken into the British Library from home and consumed at the premises.

BOOK NOW

MPhil student Clara Low is studying Textile Conservation at the University of Glasgow. As part of her course she is completing a placement for six weeks between her first and second year, here at the British Library.

The following images were taken by Clara whilst she worked on the unfolding of a silk bundle. The Tangut silk fragment was excavated in Kharakhoto (western Gobi desert) in 1914 by Aurel Stein. Clara used controlled humidification to enable this process. She worked with Vania Assis, paper conservator for the International Dunhuang Project and Liz Rose, textile conservator. See the amazing results below.

Or 12380/3665 before conservation. 

 

Or 12380/3665 during conservation – revealing a printed design.

 

Or 12380/3665 - Clara working on the fragment.

 

Or 12380/3665 after conservation – reverse showing characters, (bottom left), seams and stitching.

 

Or 12380/3665 after conservation – obverse showing characters and printed stars (bottom right).

 

Or 12380/3665 after conservation – detail of characters.

 

Can anyone tell us what it says?

 

Update: many thanks to Andrew West for a speedy solution: