Nicholas Hadgraft Scholarship for the Montefiascone Book Conservation Summer School
In remembrance of Dr Nicholas Hadgraft who died on July 4th 2004 a dear friend of Stuart Welch of Conservation By Design . The annual CONSERVATION BY DESIGN "NICHOLAS HADGRAFT SCHOLARSHIP" was created in 2005. The scholarship is an award of £1000 towards the cost of attending the Montefiascone Book Conservation Summer School held each year in the Medieval Hill Town of Montefiascone. Located between Rome and Siena and situated next to lake Bolsena and close to the beautiful Etruscan City of Orvieta.
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The Montefiascone school takes place every year during the last week in July and the first three weeks in August. There are four separate courses given by different tutors and the scholarship can be used towards the cost of attending one or all four weeks. The Monefiascone project and summer school was founded by Cheryl Porter who teaches the first weeks course on pigments. The courses coincide with the towns wine festival which offers a wonderful atmosphere for social interaction alongside study and gaining new skills. I hope that this scholarship will be a fitting tribute and allow the worthy recipient to share what Nicholas enjoyed so much about Montefiascone. |
Further details can be found at the website: http://www.monteproject.com
And will be posted on the Conservation Dist List.
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Please send applications to :
The closing date for scholarship applications is the 30th of April 2010
MONTEFIASCONE PROJECT
The Montefiascone Conservation Project, officially launched in 1994, supports the conservation and preservation of a unique 17th-century library in the medieval walled city of Montefiasone in Upper Lazio, a region of spectacular natural and historical interest about 100 kilometres north of Rome.
The library, which has more than 5,000 books, was the personal collection of Cardinal Barbarigo, a descendant of the Doges of Venice, and is located in the Seminario Barbarigo.
In 1988 Cheryl Porter, a London-based conservator of rare books and manuscripts, visited the library, which was then in a derelict condition, and immediately sought the assistance of Nicolas Barker, then head of Special Collections at the British Library.
In 1994 Ms Porter founded a summer school which helps ensure the preservation of the collections and has become a leading international forum bringing together students and experts for the study of rare book conservation.
Montefiascone is a medieval walled city situated on a huge lake about half way between
SUMMER SCHOOL PROGRAMME 2010
Montefiascone is a small medieval walled city about 100 k (80 miles) north of Rome, on Lake Bolsena. Since 1988 conservators and others interested in books and their history have come together to work, to learn and to enjoy this special place. The summer 2010 programme is as follows:
Week 1: July 26th-30th
Re-creating the medieval Palette
Through illustrated lectures, participants will examine the story of colour in medieval times. The class will address the history, geography, chemistry and iconographic importance, and the actual techniques of colour manufacture, with special reference to manuscript painting. Using original recipes, participants will make and paint out the colours. No previous experience is necessary.
Course Tutor: Cheryl Porter
Week 2: August 2nd-6th
Introduction to the Islamic Book Structure
This five day course will be based on constructing a model of the Islamic book, by following and comparing historical treatises, in particular those of Tamin ibn al Mu’izz Ibn Badis of the 11th century and Abu l’Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Sufyani of the 17th century. Participants will be provided with the basic textblock and will the proceed to construct the paste boards, sew the text block, construct the endbands and finally, cover the book in leather, before tooling (decorating) the cover. The model will be put together using traditional materials and techniques. Participants will examine regional and historical variations in the techniques, the strengths and weaknesses of the structure, and discuss conservation issues. Participants will be required to bring some basic hand tools. All materials will be provided at nominal cost. No previous experience of bookbinding is necessary to do the class. Curators and custodians of collections are welcome to apply.
Course tutor: John Mumford
Week 3: August 9th-13th
The Biccherne of Siena
In Mediaeval Siena, the Comune commissioned artists to paint the book covers for various public records. These account books containing records of revenue and expenditure start in 1226. Bound in wood, they were initially distinguished one from another by symbols or letters. In June 1257 (with Siena at its commercial peak) the administrators of the Biccherna (or Tax Office) decided to pay the painter Bartolemeo to paint the cover of the latest account book, adding luster to the functioning of the state, fetishising the books that stood for their actions and competence. This tradition endured for almost four centuries with painters such as Duccio di Buoninsegno and Lorenzo di Pietro continuing the tradition. We plan to construct a model of these medieval bindings, using wooden covers attached to the textblock with split leather taws, carved and consolidated with hand-made nails, stained with mordent and coated with gesso – following the original constructions. Facsimiles of original cover designs will be supplied. Also pigments for the tempera work, Armenian bole and gold leaf. We will examine the calligraphy uniquely used on these covers.
Materials will be provided at nominal cost. Students will be asked to bring some basic hand tools. The list will be supplied when enrolled.
Course tutor: Jennifer Storey and Caroline Checkley-Scott
Week 4: August 16th-20th
Historical overview of European paper bindings
Paper bindings had appeared in Italy and other parts of Europe by the late 15th century, and numerous examples dating from the 15th through to the 18th centuries can be found in the collections of the Barbarigo Seminary Library and the archives of the Benedictine Convent of St Peter, both located in Montefiascone. This course will provide a brief historical overview of European paper bindings, and give participants the opportunity to examine rare historical examples in Montefiascone collections. Three paper-covered binding models will be produced in the class. The first based on an Italian alla rustica binding, a laced case structure found on numerous printed books in the Seminary collection and made from a single folded sheet of paper; a second replicating a semi-limp, archival structure with a fore-edge flap and tie, found on an account book in the Benedictine convent; and a third using modern specifications for a paper case conservation binding. Emphasis will be placed on the structures and materials used for each of the bindings, but there will also be opportunities to embellish cover papers using traditional colored paste in spattered or block-printed patterns. Nicolas Barker will deliver an introductory lecture to provide historical context for the Montefiascone bindings and libraries.
Tutors: Maria Fredericks (with Nicolas Barker)
Cheryl Porter is Manager of Conservation and Preservation at the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation and Deputy Director of the Project. She has been Director of the Montefiascone Project since its inception in 1988. After graduating from Camberwell College of Arts and Crafts, she worked with the Paintings Analysis Unit at University College London analysing the use of pigments in manuscripts. From 1992 to 2007 she worked as a freelance conservator and consultant for a number of universities, private collectors and learned institutions. She has published many articles concerning colour in manuscripts and has lectured and taught in the USA, Australia and throughout Europe.
John Mumford is the currently head of Manuscript Conservation at the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation. He was formerly Head of Book Conservation at the British Library. John served a five year apprenticeship at the British Museum and subsequently helped establish the Rare and Early Book Conservation Studio at the British Library. In 1992 he was appointed manager of the Oriental and India Office Book Conservation Studio, furthering his study of early Oriental and Eastern binding structures. In 1998 he became manager of the Oriental and Eastern Book Conservation Studio at the new British Library at St Pancras. He has taught frequently in Montefiascone and lectured and run workshops throughout the UK, Argentina, Patmos and many other European locations.
Jennifer Storey trained as a bookbinder and book restorer in Sydney, Australia for four years and graduated from College as a calligrapher and illuminator soon after. She has worked in the fields of Finebinding, Restoration, Conservation and Book Arts for 21 years and assisted in mounting exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, as well as at various exhibitions in Switzerland, Germany and Italy, and at the Top Drawer in London 2002. She has a studio and a gallery in Siena, and teaches at the Siena School for Liberal Arts and Valle del Sole, at Casole del Elsa.
Caroline Checkley-Scott is currently Head of Collection Care at the John Ryland’s Library. She is Head of the Book and Paper for ICON. Caroline, studied printing and bookbinding in Dublin, Ireland and was appointed trainee book conservator at the British Library, London in 1991, where she worked at the House of Lords in the Palace of Westminster, and the Oriental and India Office Library and Records. Here she specialised in the conservation of early Christian manuscripts from the Middle East. Caroline was formerly head of Conservation at the Wellcome Library and organised the planning and design of the new Wellcome Conservation Studios. She is an accredited member of the Institute of Paper Conservation. She has lectured both nationally and internationally in Italy, Slovenia, Argentina and Brazil.
Maria Fredericks is Drue Heinz Book Conservator in the Thaw Conservation Center, Morgan Library and Museum, New York. From 1998-2005 she was Head of Conservation at Columbia University Libraries. She has recently traveled to Cairo to participate in the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation’s manuscript survey project, and to help assess the storage conditions at the Coptic Museum Archive. Her past career includes conservation positions at the Huntington Library, the Winterthur Museum Library and the Library of Congress. She has taught workshops on binding structures for the Guild of Book Workers, the Montefiascone Project, and the Paper and Book Intensive, of which she was co-director for over twenty years.
The cost of the classes is UKP445 Sterling ($640 US, 500 Euro) per week and includes all tuition (which is in English) and (most) materials.
The Montefiascone Project is a not-for-profit organization, and all extra monies are used to finance the cataloguing and the conservation and preservation of the collection.
For further information or to register for one week or more please contact Cheryl Porter at: chezzaporter@yahoo.com
More information is available on the website: www.monteproject.com
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