Workshop on parchment making

Parchment and Vellum Making
with Jesse Meyer
A Two-Day Field Trip to visit Pergamena and
the Richard E. Meyer and Sons Bookbinding leather Tannery
in Montgomery, NY

Friday and Saturday, Dec. 4-5, 2009

   "That stouffe that we wrytte upon: and is made of beestis
    skynnes: is sometyme called parchment/ sometyme velem/ somtyme
    abortyve/ somtyme membraan."
        --Vulgaria uiri doctissimi Guil Hormani, 1519

Parchment, or vellum, is one of the oldest and most durable of
bookbinding materials, both as a covering material and as a text
support. It was the principle "plastic" material of the Middle Ages,
and remains one of the strongest, most sensuous, and most archival
of natural materials  available to the bookbinder and calligrapher.
Its alkalinity makes it an ideal material for conservation purposes.
Join the New York City Chapter  as we make a field trip to the
Richard E. Meyer and Sons Tannery, where we  will spend two days
producing vellum. On Friday we will be involved in "wet  work",
taking the fresh skins through the dehairing stage to the point of
stretching and scraping them on the frame. We will also learn about
the dyeing process. Saturday will be spent on the "dry work", the
finishing processes of the skins, and will end with sanding the
skins to proper thickness and trimming.

We will also get a tour of the complete tannery facilities which
produces vegetable tanned goat and calf leather perfect for
bookbinding. Jesse Meyer's family has been in the leather tannery
business for 450 years. They have been tanning in this country since
the early 1800's, and since the  1500's in Germany. Jesse brought
his lineage and expertise into the craft of parchment making.  For
years he has been the leading parchment maker  in the United States.

This event is both a unique opportunity and a rare bargain. Every
participant will come away with two vellum skins: one dyed goatskin
and one fair calf, not to mention all the binding leather available
for purchase.

Montgomery, NY is located about 1 and half hours from Manhattan.
Carpooling will be arranged from other areas.

A listing of hotels and B&Bs and hotels is provided below for those
wishing to stay over Friday night.

3 Bed and Breakfasts, in particular, are close by within the town of
Montgomery:

    Buck's Homestead Bed and Breakfast
    364 Goodwill Road, Montgomery
    <URL:http://www.buckshomestead.com>
    845-457-3457

    The Borland House
    130 Clinton Street, Montgomery
    845-457-1513
    <URL:http://www.theborlandhouse.com>

    Pioneer Cottage
    30 Paul Lane
    Walden NY 12586
    914-542-9934
    845-778-5743
    <URL:http://www.pioneercottage.com>

A list of other B&Bs can be found at
<URL:http://www.new-york-inns.com>

and hotels:

    American Budget Inn    845-783-3211
    Comfort Inn            845-567-0567
    Marriott Courtyard     845-567-4800
    Howard Johnson         845-564-4000
    Ramada Inn             845-564-4500
    Holiday Inn            845-564-9020

A preview of Jesse's parchment making facilities can be seen at his
website:

    <URL:http://www.pergamena.net>

The workshop fee is: $300. The Materials fee is: $20.  To register
please contact the NY chapter Workshop chairperson at:

    Jesse Meyer
    11 Factory Street
    Montgomery NY 12549
    845-649-5806


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 23:17
                 Distributed: Sunday, November 15, 2009
                       Message Id: cdl-23-17-014
                                  ***