The 2008 Nicholas Hadgraft Montefiascone Scholarship Winner, E. Betul Cakirca

Release ref: CXD009
June 2008

Conservation by Design Limited (CXD) has awarded its coveted Nicholas Hadgraft
Memorial Scholarship to E. Betul Cakirca, a paper conservator at Istanbul Muftulugu,
Seri Siciller and Mesihat Archive in Turkey.
Now in its fourth year, the scholarship awards £1000 towards the cost of attending the
Montefiascone Book Conservation Summer School, a unique bookbinding course held
each year in the medieval town of Montefiascone, Italy.
Conservation By Design managing director, Mike Brown said: “The Nicholas Hadgraft
Memorial Scholarship continues to go from strength to strength and once again, the
quality of submissions was exceptionally high. We chose Betul because we were
particularly impressed with her enthusiasm and obvious dedication to increasing her
knowledge and skills. We also felt that there is a great need for trained conservators of
library materials in Turkey and hope that this award will have long term benefits for book
conservation in the country.”
Betul intends to use her scholarship to attend two courses at the Summer School at the
end of August, The Cambridge Terrier – a fifteenth century chemise binding and The
Romanesque Book in Spain and Northern Europe.

She said: “I am thrilled to be offered this amazing opportunity to study at the
Montefiascone School. Not only is it a chance for me to learn about European
bookbinding, as there are no courses on this in Turkey, but also to share my experience
and knowledge of Ottoman heritage with other conservators. The courses will help me
to develop new skills and expertise which will be particularly beneficial to my career in
conservation.
“I am extremely grateful to Conservation By Design for awarding me the scholarship and
I’m very excited about going out to Montefiascone.”
For further information on the Nicholas Hadgraft Memorial Scholarship, contact
Conservation By Design on 01234 844 360 or visit www.conservation-by-design.co.uk.


The scholarship is offered in memory of Dr Nicholas Hadgraft, a good friend of
Conservation By Design who died tragically in 2004. Nicholas was a fellow of the
University of the Arts London and a key collaborator on the “Squelch Drying” technique
devised by Stuart Welch (the founder of CXD), the most effective way to date of drying
valuable rare books.

For press information contact:
Vicky Coyle
Haslimann Taylor
Tel: 0121 362 4017/ 07717 836 060
Email: vicky@haslimanntaylor.com

For technical information contact:
Denise Troughton
Tel: 01234 844 360/ 07817 518 250
Email: denise.troughton@conservation-by-design.co.uk