Volume 12, Number 6
Sep 1988

Events in the News

• There was a conference in Italy April 14-16 on the conservation of works of art on paper and parchment, at which 29 papers were given, 28 of which were in Italian. Catherine Rickman's paper on watercolor paintings was in English.
• In Leipzig at the Deutsche Bücherei, there was a follow-up meeting May 3-6, to the 1986 Vienna meeting on preservation of library materials. Participants have resolved to meet every two years and review progress. The proceedings are available from the Centre régional PAC, Bibliothèque Nationale, Centre de conservation, Château de Sablé, 72300 SABLE/SARTHE, France. There were 13 papers from 12 countries. Thirteen recommendations were made, cheering on IFLA's PAC (Preservation and Conservation) program, calling for more regional and national centers, recommending that the PAC program act as an information clearinghouse, asking all libraries to draw up a list of their preservation needs and set up programs, and generally endorsing preservation actions, programs and principles.
• The Committee on Conservation and Restoration of the International Council on Archives met Aug. 17-20 in Edinburgh. Unfortunately, it is not an open meeting. The meetings of the ICA as a whole, however, are.
• Sixteen rare book libraries in Philadelphia have pooled their treasures in the exhibition, "Legacies of Genius," which will be up until Sept. 25 in the adjacent galleries of the Library Company and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Visitors should allow plenty of time for viewing, because there are 250 books, including two that were rebound by Fritz and Trudi Eberhardt: the Lectionary from the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and a 50-page manuscript in limp vellum.
• The Guild of Book Workers' travelling exhibition "Bound to Vary" has been extended to two additional sites, Princeton University Library and the Renwick Gallery. A fully illustrated color catalog is available for $15 plus $2.50, from GBW, 521 Fifth Ave., New York NY 10175. Until September 2, the exhibition will be at the Museum of New Mexico, Palace of the Governors, in Santa Fe. After that, it will go to:

  Sept. 12-Oct. 21: University of Texas, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, Austin, Texas
  Nov. 4-Dec. 31: MIT Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts
  Jan. 10-Mar. 10: Princeton University Library, Milberg Gallery for the Graphic Arts, Princeton, New Jersey
  Apr. 7-Aug. 13: Smithsonian Institution, Renwick Gallery, Washington, DC.

• The China Study Tour that was scheduled for September 3-20 has been cancelled. It will be rescheduled for Spring 1990 and will include only China. Contact Marjorie Li or Susan Swartzburg, Alexander Library, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08903 (201/932-8573).
• The Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild will have two two-day workshops and one six-day class (on Sundays) between Sept. 10 and Dec. 4. Daniel Kelm will teach Advanced box making/design Sept. 10-11; Fritz Eberhardt, Title stamping without fear, Oct. 22-23; and Don Taylor, Forwarding I, Oct. 30-Dec. 4. Fees: $95, $95 and $200 Canadian; more for nonmembers. All in Toronto. For application form, write Shelagh Smith, 92 Monsheen Dr., Woodbridge, Ont. L4L 2E7.
• Philip Smith's October itinerary includes Geneva, Ohio (40 miles from Cleveland), Washington, DC, and New York City. In Geneva he will give the introductory talk at the October 8 opening of the exhibition "Aspects of British Art Today," at Saturday's Book Arts Gallery, 235 5. Broadway, Geneva, OH 44041 (for information call Jarmila Sobota, 216/ 486-9183). No information has been received about where he will be in Washington. In New York, he will give a slide lecture at the Center for Book Arts on Monday, October 17, at 6 pm.
• This fall, October-December, Artists Book Works in Chicago will offer classes: Beginning Bookbinding, with Em Middleton (Oct. 5-Nov. 30, $120); Leather Bindings, with Heinke Pensky-Adam (Oct. 3-Nov. 21, $170); and courses on artists' books, box making and Turkish marbling. Contact Artists Book Works, 1422 W. Irving Park, Chicago IL 60613, or call 312/348-4469.
• The Midwest Association of Forensic Scientists will hold its Fall '88 meeting in Minneapolis Oct. 3-7. The Questioned Document Section will have its own program, and will have a 1½-day workshop on paper manufacture and wood fiber identification for $50. Registration for the conference is $45. Contact Karen Rumyon, Q.D. Section Coordinator, P0 Box 40413, St. Paul, 55104 (612/224-1772).
• "A Jeweller's Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection," an exhibition of 160 Persian and Indian paintings, will be at the Sackler Gallery at 1050 Independence Ave. SW, in Washington, DC, Nov. 20-April 30. The press preview is November 15. There is a 240-page catalog with 100 color illustrations for $50 cloth, $26.95 paper. There will be a one-hour program of "Smithsonian World" on PBS in February about the Vever collection, which has had an adventurous past. For information call 202/357-2700.
• Camberwell School of Art and Crafts anticipates having another Summer School session in 1989. The course is designed to give an understanding of conservation of library and archive materials, through specialist lectures and practical work. It is primarily intended for those areas in the world without conservation experience, and which now seek a direction. For this reason, the course will have a managerial content. Write Mr. R. C. Akers, The London Institute, Camberwell School of Art and Crafts, Peckham Road, London SE5 8UF England.
• There will be a Rare Book School at Columbia University in July 1989, even though Terry Belanger will be on sabbatical. Among the 18 courses scheduled so far are the following:

  Medieval and Early Renaissance Bookbinding Structures -Christopher Clarkson
  History of European and American Papermaking - Timothy Barrett and John Bidwell.
  Physical Evidence in Early Printed Books - Paul Needham European Bookbinding, 1500-1800 - Nicholas Pickwoad

• For information write Rare Book School, School of Library Service, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (212/280-4734).
• Soundwell Technical College has given out advance information on its 1989 International Bookbinding Master-classes by Anthony Cams, Bernard Middleton, Sün Evrard and David Sellars, which will run sequentially between July 24 and August 25. Anthony Cans will teach for two weeks (probably a repeat, to accommodate all the applicants) on "The Conservation Repair of Vellum and Parchment Manuscripts." The other three classes will be on "The Restoration of Leather Bindings," "French Binding," and "Full Leather Binding," respectively. There will also be visits to museums and binderies, and evening lectures and demonstrations. �150 per one-week class, accommodation not included. For information, contact Greg Harrowing, Bookbinding Co-ordinator, Soundwell College, St. Stephens Rd., Soundwell, Bristol BS16 4RL, England.