table paper repairs form the foundation for the successful rebinding of any book.

This course will explore contemporary methods of repairing and reinforcing damaged or compromised papers. You will be provided with damaged sheets of paper to repair, including papers commonly used for printing books during the last 300 years. You are also welcome to bring in your own objects for treatment or evaluation.

We will begin with a discussion of types of paper, their physical characteristics, the history of paper manufacturing, and the ways paper degrades over time. We will examine the tools used in paper conservation; repair materials and tissues; and a range of stable adhesives.

Treatments demonstrated will include surface cleaning; mending tears; guarding sections; filling losses; transparent mends done over areas with type or images; humidification and flattening of creased pages; spot testing of inks and pigments; lining single sheets of paper; and methods for drying wet paper. As time permits, we will cover methods of coloring tissues and the repair of coated papers.

This course is aimed both at beginners and at those with training and experience in paper repair who are interested in expanding their range of treatments. Bench work will focus on producing aesthetically pleasing repairs that are structurally sound.

(This workshop is not currently on the schedule. You may to request that we offer it sometime in the future.)