Restoration of Library and Archival Material

Restoration of Library and Archival Material

Starting from the 2016/2017 academic year, I have been teaching restoration of book and archival material to students of the second year of the Single Cycle Course in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage CORLIB – University of Rome Torvergata.

During the first year of the course students are provided with all the basics of conservation and restoration, while the second year of the course includes a large part dedicated to the theoretical and practical knowledge of the methods and techniques of conservation and restoration of book and archival materials (paper restoration, graphic media treatment, leather and parchment restoration).

After dealing with these topics, we move on to book and archive bindings. The realization of facsimiles of historical bindings allows students to fully understand the technique of execution of the artifacts, through all the phases that compose it.

This work must be accompanied by a careful observation of original books and documents kept in libraries, archives or museum collections. For this reason, the course includes targeted visits to institutional and museum archives.

The ultimate goal is to put students in a position to be able to face, starting from the third year of the course, the restoration of the original specimens.