for more information and to RSVP:
http://www.philaathenaeum.org/current.html

Please click on the link below for more details….

bill hanscom ws ethoptic binding 2014

The Mysterious Voynich Manuscript: Collaboration Yields New Insights

 A talk by Paula Zyats, Assistant Chief Conservator, Special Collections, Yale University

Thursday, July 10, 2014

The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust Street

5:30 – 7:30 pm – reception and exhibition opening to follow (see below)

Click here to RSVP

The Voynich Manuscript, a mysterious vellum manuscript written in an unknown language, was donated to Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library in 1969. In late 2008, an Austrian film crew approached the Beinecke with a proposal to conduct materials testing on the Voynich Manuscript and make a film about it.  This prompted an exciting collaboration between curators, scientists, conservators, historians, and filmmakers.  This talk summarizes those findings, outlining the history of the Voynich Manuscript, some of the theories as to its origins, conservation treatment, materials testing, and parchment radiocarbon dating. The advances though significant, are humble: the Voynich Manuscript’s authorship and meaning remain a complete mystery.

(image above from the Beinecke Library, Yale University)

Paula Zyats is a graduate of the Winterthur Museum/ University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation.  She worked as Rare Books and Manuscripts Conservator at CCAHA before coming to Yale, specializing in manuscripts on parchment and paper. Paula has been in her present position as Assistant Chief Conservator for Special Collections at Yale University Libraries for the past 9 1/2 years.  In that time, she has been privileged to work on rare items from numerous special collections within the Libraries, including the Voynich Manuscript, and is currently working on a project to treat and house ancient papyrus fragments.

 

 

Please also enjoy the opening of

“Small Wonders: Miniature Books by the Delaware Valley Chapter

of the Guild of Book Workers”

 

In the United States, a miniature book is defined as a book that is no larger than three inches in height, width, or thickness.  The Delaware Valley Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers has asked its members to make books with no other theme except to meet that definition.  Thirty-one members rose to the challenge. 

 

This event of co-sponsored by the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers

FAST-FRIENDLY-FREE WORKSHOP  

Jacob’s Ladder Structure

Denise Carbone

APRIL 5, 2014     10 am – 1pm

Library Company of Philadelphia

1314 Locust St., Philadelphia

RSVP: dvcgbw@verizon.net

 

The Jacob’s ladder is a folk toy consisting of blocks of wood held together by strings or ribbon. This 2,000-year-old Chinese toy has many wonderful applications for contemporary artist bookmakers. The book can be read straight through like any accordion book or hold one end and flip the ladder sections to reveal the hidden scenes. The apparent falling of the blocks has to do with a double-acting hinge. But to name it is not to comprehend it.

I will supply board for blocks, ribbon and polyethylene strapping for connector.

You should bring:

10 to 12 images cut to 3” square

Double-stick tape

Scissors

Bone tool

(optional) your own ribbon

DVC Collaborative Project 2014

An Atlas. Each participant makes a map of a place real or imagined. This could also be a state of mind.

Each participant will make an edition of maps.  The maps can be of any (reasonable) size and will then be folded to one specified size.  We will exchange the maps with each other after which the participants can either bind the maps as a book, or make a box for them.

Details:

1.       The folded measurement is 5.5”w x 8.5”h.  The folded maps should not be any bigger or any smaller than this measurement.  Maps can also be a single sheet, unfolded, but still must be 5.5”w x 8.5”h. You do not need to attach stubs or guards for binding, unless you want to incorporate them in your folding plan.  Participants who decide to bind their copy will in some case have to attach stubs or guards in order to sew the text block.

2.       You must include a cartouche on the map with at least the title of the map and your name. The cartouche can be very simple and it can also contain any other information you would like to include.  To learn more about cartouches: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartouche_%28cartography%29

3.       A digital list of all participants and map titles will be available to make your own title page or box list.

4.       The registration form and your check for $15 are due by April 4.

5.       You will be informed of the edition size on April 7th.

6.       The folded maps will be due on September 12th, and a collation party will likely take place on September 13.

7.       We plan to offer a one-day clamshell box workshop for $100 per member in the fall.

8.       Plans to exhibit this collaborative project are underway.  More to follow.

9.       You must be a member of the Delaware Valley Chapter for the duration of the project.

10.   Questions?  Email Jennifer: dvcgbw@verizon.net

Please write a check for $15 made payable to:

The Guild of Book Workers

Mail the check to:

Alice Austin

The Library Company

1314 Locust Street

Philadelphia, PA  19107

Name________________________________________________________________

FYI concerning shipping: If we have to mail you anything for this collaborative project, we will insure the item to the extent that we can. However, there are complex rules concerning shipping artworks and it seems that the likelihood of getting any money for lost items is very small. Please understand that you assume the risk when we use the mail or a shipping company.

MAKING AND SHARPENING KNIVES: A RATIONAL APPROACH with Jeff Peachey

Saturday, April 26 (rain date April 27, or cancelled if inclement weather on both days)
10 am to 5 pm
To be held outdoors at Denise Carbone’s home In Stratford, New Jersey

This class is an intensive one-day introduction to one of the most basic human tool making activities  making and keeping an edge tool sharp without the use of jigs. The specific tools of bookbinders will be examined: paring knives, lifting knives, scissors, hole punches, spokeshaves and board shear blades. A wide variety of sharpening systems will be available for comparison: water stones, ceramic stones, diamond stones, oil stones, natural stones, silicone carbide powder, aluminum oxide powder, diamond paste, abrasive papers and stropping compounds. Some basic principals of tool steels will be explained, and edge geometry investigated. The goal is to free participants from the plethora of misinformation and mystique that surrounds sharpening and to instill confidence in sharpening and resharpening bookbinding knives. Participants should bring any stones and edge tools they have for evaluation. We will make one small knife from a hacksaw blade, and larger blanks with a factory grind will be available for purchase.

Jeffrey S. Peachey has been in private practice for 25 years and specializes in the conservation of books and paper artifacts for institutions and individuals. He makes specialized hand tools and is the inventor of the Peachey Board Slotting Machine, which is used by many institutions worldwide to treat books with detached boards. He was awarded a Sherman Fairchild Conservation Research Fellowship from the Morgan Library & Museum and the 2013 Reese Fellowship in American Bibliography from the Library Company of Philadelphia and a 2014 Research Fellowship from the Winterthur Library and Museum. He is an adjunct at Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science (Boston), teaching historic book structures for conservators.

Jamie Kamph is a bookbinder/conservator who lives and works at her farm in Lambertville, NJ.  Her design bindings are in major public and private collections.  She has taught bookbinding workshops at Princeton University, University of Texas at Austin, Mt. Holyoke College, Anderson Ranch, and SMU.  She has published A Collector’s Guide to Bookbinding  and is working on another book, Tricks of the Trade. 

 

Bookbinding in India

Here is a link to some amazing photos of bookbinding in India.

Click on the photo below to see the slideshow.