Course Content
The course includes sections with different topics. Without elaborating into specific problems, teaching focuses on developing students’ ability to deal with the restoration of the bookbindings of the nineteenth and of the first half of the twentieth century.
The students acquire knowledge on the variety of different materials and manufacture techniques used in the bookbindings of the specific era. Through the examination of different cases, students are able to prepare a conservation plan according to the specific characteristics and the pathology of each case, followed by a critical evaluation of the conservation treatment. Specific materials and techniques are presented for in situ interventions. In addition, before deciding the complete replacement of the damage historic bookbindings, the limitations of the conservation treatments are examined, taking into consideration the value of the historical and technological elements are as well as the principles and ethics which apply in this field.
Course Objectives
The course aims to provide the students with the following competences: students:
1) To understand and recognize the different bookbindings styles and techniques used during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Greece and Europe.
2) To understand the diversity, in terms of chemical composition and properties of the materials used in the manufacture of the modern bookbindings as well as their interaction with each other (e.g. industrial papers/cardboards, coloured decorative papers, textiles, leather, parchment and handmade paper imitations).
3) To become familiar with the characteristic features and properties of the traditional materials used in the modern bookbinding and their evolution during the industrial and post-industrial era.
4) To become familiar with the basic mechanisms of wear and damage of the bookbinding materials due to unsuitable climatic conditions and intense use as well as the appropriate conservation methods.
5) To be able to evaluate the complexity of the cases under treatment and to distinguish the important elements which determine the choice of the optimal conservation treatment.
STUDENT ASSESSMENT
Language of evaluation: Greek (English for Erasmus students).
Students’ evaluation (100%): Written assignment
ATTACHED BIBLIOGRAPHY
– Suggested Greek Bibliography:
ΥΠΟΥΡΓΕΙΟ ΕΘΝΙΚΗΣ ΠΑΙΔΕΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΘΡΗΣΚΕΥΜΑΤΩΝ, Διατήρηση και Συντήρηση των Βιβλιακών και Αρχειακών Συλλογών. Οδηγός για βιβλιοθηκονόμους και αρχειονόμους, «Παπαχαραλάμπειος» Δημόσια Κεντρική Βιβλιοθήκη Ναυπάκτου, Ναύπακτος, 2000.
ΣΚΕΠΑΣΤΙΑΝΟΥ Μ., Λεξικό όρων διατήρησης και συντήρησης έντυπου υλικού, Τυποφιλία 2, Θεσσαλονίκη, 1995.
ΣΚΕΠΑΣΤΙΑΝΟΥ Μ., Διατήρηση Τεκμηρίων Βιβλιοθηκών και Αρχείων, Τυποφιλία, Θεσσαλονίκη, 1998, (ISBN 960 7285 18 2)..
ΒΙΒΛΙΟΑΜΦΙΑΣΤΗΣ, Περιοδική έκδοση για την ελληνική βιβλιοδεσία. 3 τόμοι, 2000, 2004, 2008, Ελληνική Εταιρεία Βιβλιοδεσίας, Αθήνα.
– Suggested Foreign Bibliography:
MIDDLETON, Bernard C., The Restoration of Leather Bindings, Oak Knoll Press – The British Library, 1998.
CUNHA, George Martin and Cunha, D.G. Conservation of Library Materials, I. Metuchen, N.J., 1971
CUNHA George M., POOLE Frazer G., WALTON Clyde C., The conservation of Historical Records, Society of American Archivists, vol. 40, Number 3, 1971.
– Relevant scientific Journals:
• IFLA, Principles for the Care and Handling of Library Material, Ed. Edward P. Adock, IFLA PAC, 1998.
• Book Preservation Technologies, May 1988, U.S. Congress of Technology Assessment.
• The New Bookbinder, Journal of Designer Bookbinders