On the Matter of Books and Records: Forms, Substance, Forgeries, and Meanings Beyond the Lines

We are pleased to announce the forthcoming international workshop on the materiality of written culture from Antiquity to Modern Europe, organised by the AR.C.H.I.ves Project (Birkbeck, University of London), the Ligatus Research Centre (University of the Arts London) and the History of Design Programme (Royal College of Art / Victoria & Albert Museum).

The conference will take place on 23 November 2015 at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Please see the programme below, also available at https://thematterof.wordpress.com/about/, https://birkbeck.academia.edu/ARCHIvesProject and www.bbk.ac.uk/history/archives/events

Visit our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1579576988974641/

Programme

10.00-10.30 Registration and Coffee
10.30-10.45 Filippo de Vivo and Marta Ajmar: Introduction

10.45 – 12.15
First Session - Supports: Papyrus, Parchment, and Paper
Danae Bafa (UCL): From Boats to Book-rolls: Unfolding the Materiality of Papyrus in Graeco-Roman Egypt
Jessica Berenbeim (Magdalene College, University of Oxford): What Parchment is, and What it Means
Maria Alessandra Chessa (V&A Museum): From the Nature of Paper to Meaning and Function
1.30 – 2.30
Second Session - Binding Books and Documents
Anna Gialdini (Ligatus, UAL) and Alessandro Silvestri (Birkbeck): Binding and Rebinding Records in Late Medieval Sicily. A Material Approach to Administrative History
Carlo Federici (Ca’ Foscari, University of Venice): Bindings, Parchments and Papers. My Pathway to the Archaeology of the Book

2.30-3.00 Coffee Break

3.00 – 4.10
Third Session - Forgery in Books and Documents
Emily Taylor (British Museum): Book Forgeries: A Composite Fake and Egyptological Conundrum from the British Museum’s Collection

Alfred Hiatt (Queen Mary University of London): Forgery of Documents in the Late Middle Ages
4.10-4.30 Ian Sansom, University of Warwick: Closing remarks: The Paper Museum

5.00 Wine Reception

Registration to the workshop is now open. Places are limited and we recommend you register as soon as possible. Shall the number of registrations exceed that of available places, we will be running a waiting list. Please register at https://thematterof.wordpress.com/registration-2/ within 15 November 2015.

We are also happy to announce that a small number of travel bursaries are available to enable graduate students to attend (see https://thematterof.wordpress.com/graduate-student-travel-grant/). We would be grateful if you could circulate the information among potentially interested students. Applications should be sent to a.silvestri@bbk.ac.uk by 15 October 2015.

For any further enquiries visit https://thematterof.wordpress.com or feel free to get in touch with the organisers:

Alessandro Silvestri: a.silvestri@bbk.ac.uk
Anna Gialdini: a.gialdini1@arts.ac.uk
Maria Alessandra Chessa: maria.chessa@network.rca.ac.uk

University of Amsterdam Seminar on Embroidered Bindings

Wednesday 19 – Friday 21 August 2015

Since 2010, the Research Group for Book and Manuscript Studies and the Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam have been organising a Summer School on the History of the Book, which takes place in August each year.

During the summer school, there will also be a three-day seminar about embroidered bindings. The seminar will be held in English. The seminar is being organised in collaboration with the Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, University of York, in conjunction with Illuminare – Centre for the Study of Medieval Art, University of Leuven, the Leiden University Library and the National Library of the Netherlands in The Hague.

Day 1: Theory and practice of research - papers on this topic or on related topics, including

• experience and practicalities in research on embroidered bindings (Claire Canavan) 
• history and practice of European embroidery and needlework (Marike van Roon) 
• history of European textiles related to bindings; relationships between embroidered books and other objects (Claire Canavan) 
• practice of conservation; diversity of attitudes on conservation, use, and consultation (Renate Mesmer) 
• questions of methodology - what frameworks do we use to approach bindings and relationships between books, bindings, collections (Lieve Watteeuw) 
• hands-on research of embroidered bindings of Special Collections UvA 

Day 2: Exploring other collections of embroidered bindings in the Netherlands

• visit to Leiden University Library (Karin Scheper) 
• visit to National/Royal Library The Hague (Rens Top) 

Day 3: Summary of topics learned

• reports of the research performed the days before 
• comparing the Amsterdam bindings with the results of 3D-scanning (Lieve Watteeuw) 
• discussion of future research plans and possibilities

Contact:
Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam Oude Turfmarkt 129 (Rokin)
1012 GC Amsterdam
020–5257300
summerschool-bc@uva.nl

www.bijzonderecollecties.uva.nl