Featured Old book for restoration

As an old paper collector, I have quite some books that could use restoration. Some of the books are worth it and other not. I even have a few old book that are beyond repair. For some reason I am quite cautious with restoring my books. I realize I am just a temporary guardian of these books. But if I don't get them repaired they will be getting more and more damaged.

Next week I have a meeting with a book restorer for one of the older books in my collection:

Divi Cyrilli Patriarchae Alexandrini, In Evangelivm Ioannis Commentaria (Cyril's commentary of the Gospel of Saint John), Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Printed in 1524 by Andreas Cratander in Basel, Switserland. The book is in small folio format, bound in blind stamped leather and has some remains of clasps.

On the inner side of the boards ar covered with medieval handwritten parchment. I haven't identified this text yet. The text has some very beautiful capitals.

So far the good news. The leather binding has severe damage, the leather back is completely missing and the front board of the binding is loose.

I want to have the book a new back, the leather on the cover repaired and fasten the boards again. I am not sure how much it will cost, but I'm quite sure it will be not cheap.

The book is quite rare. I could find 7 copies in the libraries worldwide and none for sale at the moment:

https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=A...t=638&fq=ap:"cyrillus"+>+yr:1524&qt=facet_yr:


Would you like to get updated on the progress of this restoration?

 

Of course. When have we ever declined to learn about how something can be restored? A lot of work there to follow.

 

Yes, please!

Debora

 

Fascinating,cant wait .

 

I'm glad to know someone will preserve this for future generations. I look forward to the restoration.

 

yes I would.

 

Back in my blacksmithing period (!) in the early 1980's I was commissioned to make a set of skiving razor knives, left cut, chisel and right cut for a very well known bookbinding restorer.

 

How did you select this restorer? Is he/she a member of any professional conservation organizations?

 

Cratander brings back fond memories; friend of mine made his apprenticeship and finished it as a bookprinter just before they switched over to electronic printing. beautiful house they were in but not the same I think as this book here was printed.

 

@Ex Libris ,Back in the 80's there were 3 book binders / Book repair people locally.....alas, no more .... seems the price has gone up very much also ....... Look forward to seeing the progress...thanks for offering to show us !

 

Well, she is a professional restorer, connected to an important museum (Boymans van Beuningen museum in Rotterdam) here in the Netherlands and she is member of the Dutch Restorers and Conservators Association.

 

Cool, I have read a bit about this printer. It seems the printer's device of Cratander in my book was designed by Hans Holbein the Younger. Just like Peter Paul Rubens designed the later printer's device of the Plantin-Moretus print shop.

 

best for in-depth research would be a visit to the Kupferstichkabinett. problem is that they have 300'000 drawings and they started to digitize these just recently.
and as statal institution they don't work with google and other "such people".
but you can view up to 10 originals in a special study room when handing in a list and on appointment - also as layperson.
https://kunstmuseumbasel.ch/en/collection/collectiononline

 

Sounds like a good choice.
It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

 

In the first post of this thread I haven't explained how this book fits in my collection. I started 20 years ago with just collecting "old books". On a holiday in the Czech Republic I found an old book with the title page missing. I found out the book was from 1706 and printed by the Plantin Press in Antwerp. I took the book to the Plantin Moretus museum in Antwerp and they told me it was a breviary (book of prayers). After this I wanted to collect books printed by the Plantin press, but they were in general a bit too expensive for me. I decided to collect books that are printed in Antwerp before 1750.

About 15 years ago I bought another book in the Czech Republic (that is a coincidence) with binding made of vellum that had medieval handwriting on it.

Binding of Catonis disticha moralia / cum scholiis D. Erasmi Roterodami (Prague 1571)


During the years of collecting I started interest in reused medieval vellum in old books. I learned that it is called "disjecta membra" (scattered fragments). It is even a part of science called fragmentology.

Why do I find it so interesting? In the oldest times people shared information by telling each other stories. When writing was invented, people started producing scrolls and alter books the share information. When in the 15th century the book printing was invented by Gutenberg, the information sharing changed from manuscript to printed books. From that time the "truth" (whatever that is...) was printed and not written down anymore, so all old manuscripts became needless. Because vellum (that is animal skin) was a material that was very durable the bookbinders used it a lot to bind the books. Because the old manuscripts were not needed anymore they reused old manuscripts.


In our time we are living in a similar transition period of transferring information. From the printed books, information is now gathered digital (online). As in the beginning of book printing we as mankind have to find a way for dealing with this kind of information sharing. Think about social media, fake news, et cetera.

So now about 30 of my about 350 books contain medieval manuscript fragments. Sometimes very small fragments, and sometimes the complete cover is made of it.

Here are some examples from my collection:



Book covered in music score (plain chant)


My oldest fragment (Vulgate Bible, 10th century)


15th century golden initial in a 18th binding of a 16th century book...

 

Fascinating!

 

I seek them actively. Sometimes I find a book from Antwerp with medieval parchment, then I am double happy! This is an example of a Latin Breviary. printed by Christophe Plantin in Antwerp (1569) with a Dutch 15th century manuscript used in the binding.