book conservation – Page 70 – Peachey Conservation

January 21, 2015January 21, 2015

Historic Book Structures for Conservators Workshop, 2015

I’m really excited about this summers Historic Book Structures for Conservators, which will be held at The Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library. July 1-31, 2015. This is a fantastic opportunity for serious students and professional conservators who want to eat, drink, live and breath historic book structures for an uninterrupted month. The icing on the cake— no tuition!

HISTORIC BOOK STRUCTURES FOR CONSERVATORS

This month long course is designed to refine basic bookbinding bench skills and to explore historic book structures in the context of the conservation of books as historic artifacts. It will be held at The Winterthur <http://www.winterthur.org>, a museum, garden and library consisting of 1,000 acres of rolling meadows, gardens and woodlands. The focus will be on books bound in-boards from the 16th through 19th centuries. Readings in bookbinding history, researching book structures and creating models of historic structures are the basis of the course. Class presentations, several written essays and an independent project are required. This course is intended for pre-program through mid-career participants who are passionate about book conservation. Class size is limited.

Application requirements include a personal statement on the relavence of this class to your work and career, a portfolio of bookbinding or book conservation treatments that exhibits attention to detail, and a recommendation from a professional in the conservation or preservation field. Students will receive a full scholarship for tuition and can live on the the grounds of the Winterthur for nominal charge. International applications are encouraged. Students will have to supply their own hand tools, pay travel expenses, food, and a materials fee. Students will have 24/7 access to the workshop and a graduate level conservation library.

This class is intended to develop bookbinding skills, work on a portfolio for graduate school or job applications, or even for mid-carrear conservators wishing to recharge their batteries.

HOW TO APPLY

I will need four things from you.

1) A one page personal statement on your interest in book history/ book conservation and how this class will help you in your career.

2) Your resume or cv.

3) A portfolio of bookbindings and/ or book conservation treatments that exhibits hand skills and attention to detail. This can be submitted in person if you live near NYC, online or you can send me the images. They need to be at a high enough resolution to evaluate craft skills. You should submit three books, with one or two overall shots and one or two details of each. Please include a one paragraph description of the piece or treatment: when you did it, how it was made, materials, techniques, and other information you would like to include.

4) A letter of recommendation from a professional in the conservation or preservation field, or a teacher who is familiar with your work.

After reviewing the above material, finalists will be interviewed by telephone or Skype. Please contact me if you have any questions.

The deadline for application is March 15, 2015.

Decisions regarding acceptance will be made by April 1, 2015.

The class will be held July 1-31, 2015 at the The Wintertour, Delaware, USA.

December 22, 2014December 22, 2014

A Merry Christmas to Bookbinders

The International Bookbinder, January 1901, Vol. 2 No. 1, p.4.

A plug for W.B. Conkey Co. (Chicago, 1877-1948) and a insinuation against other unnamed publishers for unfair labor practices, veiled as a bit of Christmas verse.

Anyway, Merry Christmas, brother and sister bookbinders! Jeff

December 9, 2014December 29, 2016

An Ugly Hunk

Image: Ref 1996.8.1

Any guesses what is pictured in the above image?

I’m really happy museums are collecting this kind of thing.

It is from the Maritime Heritage East, and it is a hunk of beeswax that sailors waxed their whipping cord with, much like traditional bookbinders do with sewing thread. Looking at this, I can see how someone pulled the thread through it, likely holding it in one hand between their thumb and forefinger and rotating it 90 degrees occasionally to prevent the thread from cutting through. In fact, the museum notes that Harold Scot, an orphan sailer, received this wax in 1933 when he was 16, and used it for the next 66 years. It is unusual to have this type of provenance concerning tools and craft materials.

So what? Why does this ugly hunk of beeswax matter? Because here we have a physical record of technique, seemingly frozen in time. We can interpret the technique from this object, and it is an interesting object because it is a material that acts like a tool. The thread is shaped the wax, somewhat like a potter’s rib shapes clay. It is difficult to know, from this isolated example, if this was a common technique or waxing thread, a local custom, or possibly novel. It would be interesting to compare other examples of beeswax, possibly from other trades. Was this hand sized square of wax a common size?

We do know that using beeswax to prevent kinking and reducing abrasion of sewing thread was common in many trades, including bookbinding. Yet materials like this are not commonly passed on when a bindery is sold. The use of beeswax seems to be waning, because of concerns about acidity and the fact it is not really necessary if the needle is the right size, and the thread properly relaxed. In fact, the sewing thread of most early bindings I’ve examined does not seem to be waxed.

Image: <http://www.achildsdream.com/sewing-beeswax-in-holder/>

A 20th century “innovation” in beeswax is the plastic holder pictured above, which is marketed to bookbinders and other sewing related crafts and even sold at Walmart. I suspect that one motive was to sell more tiny disks of beeswax, and the holder encourages waste because only part of the wax can be used. To be fair, the holder does keep the beeswax and the workers hands clean. But unless you are very careful, it is easy to abrade the thread on the sharp plastic edges, in contrast to the advertising claim that this device “strengthens” the thread. What does the holder, with its regulated placement of the thread imply about the marketing and deskilling technique in modern craft? Is the holder akin to training wheels?

Since the history of craft technique is generally unwritten, it is the responsibility of craft practitioners and conservators to interpret—or at least preserve and draw awareness—to these physical traces of past technique.