• Conference: Solidarity in culture: Heritage protection under conditions of crisis.
• Organized by: National and University Library (Zagreb, Croatia).
• Venue: Online from Zagreb (Croatia). Free entrance.
• Dates: 18 to 20 March 2021.
• Language: English.
• Lecture: Conservation of re-used bidnings (watch below ↓).
• Abstract:
  Book conservation involves a tough decision making regarding usability and long term preservation. A book is meant to be handled in order to read it.
  These ethical considerations become even more complex when re-used materials are part of the binding, either because the covers are a document theirselves (for instance, a manuscript, a most common case also known as “disjecta membra”) or also when the binding is a recycled one, a palimpsest binding. The adjustments made by the craftsmen in the rebinding process should be kept as an evidence of this historical fact, and yet we might be interested in keeping other data from the firstly used materials. At the same time, preservation commands to take decisions in order to stabilize the object.
  The lecture focuses on several case studies (incunaubla and manuscripts with limp vellum bindings and laced-case vellum bindings) showing that decision making can only be a custom-made for each particular book.
• Other links:
  • Conference website,
  • book of abstracts,
  • programme.
  • Case study 2️⃣: Conservation of parchment manuscript used as a binding (disjecta membra) Tortosa.
  • Case study 4️⃣: Conservation of a recycled lace-cased vellum binding, Terrassa.
  • Video: Lecture Conservation of reused bindings (part two), English version (with subtitles).
  • Video: Lecture Conservation of disjecta membra and reused bindings, first and 2nd parts, in Spanish.
  • Video: Here’s the lecture (subtitles in English, Spanish and Catalan available). Access the diverse episodes with the YouTube markers.

The video has bookmarked their episodes for you to go straight to each section (open it on YouTube).

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 00:40 – A) What is re-use with diverse purpose (disjecta membra)
• 01:39 – B) What is re-use with diverse purpose
• 01:55 – A) Disjecta membra. Recycling with diverse purpose
  • 02:13 – a1) Parchment manuscript used as a binding (Incunabula from Girona).
  • 05:20 – a2) Parchment manuscript used as a binding (disjecta membra) (Tortosa).
  • 08:16 – 1 vs 2. Are old repairs and re-used materials compatible with conservation requirements and to what extent their removal involves loss of readability?
  • 09:25 Decision making for disijecta membra materials (A).
• 10:03 – B) re-use with same puprpose (binding)
  • 10:31 – b1) Incunabula from Girona with proficient rebinding.
  • 16:26 – b2) Recycled binding lace-cased on limp vellum covers (manuscript from Terrassa)
  • 21:18 – Decision making for recycled bindings (B).
• 23:32 – Conclusion