Book Binding

The French version of an exploration of Armenian manuscript art for a vast exhibition catalogue on the occasion the 500th anniversary of Armenian printing, 1512-2012.  The exhibit was held in the famous Correr Museum in the Piazzo San Marco using book items from its rich collection with loans from the Mekhitarist Brotherhood collection at San Lazzaro in the Venice lagoon and from various collections in Yerevan, Armenia.

Throughout history the artisans of the book have always wanted to push its boundaries. The present research will take a closer look at a contemporary applied artist who redefined and reshaped the physical book. For nearly three decades Irma Boom has designed books which pushed the limits of typography, text-image conventions, materiality and binding. Through her commissions Boom blurred the lines between a designer, image editor and author. Her unusual way of story-telling provided the book with a new life. Boom’s books are celebrated as works of art, exhibited in museums around the world, and featured in the permanent collections in most prestigious art establishments around the globe.
The aim of this research is to create a discussion about the new role of the book in the new millennium. In the digital age Irma Boom’s books prove that the physical book has much to offer to its reader. This study will examine three main issues: legibility as main source of communication, the designer as the new author of the book and finally the books of the new millennium. Ten case studies were chosen to illustrate how Irma Boom redefined the craft of book design.

In XVIII th century, traditional decorative arts were also affected by the changing art movements. It was seen that compositions with herbal and semi-stylized motifs had begun to be used in the same manuscript with Baroque and Rococo style designs. As of the XVII th century, along with miniature artworks in which historical events were depicted with large groups of people, in a group of artworks called clothing albums, ordinary people began to be depicted as single. The Hubanname and Zenanname manuscript with no.I.Ü. NEK T 5502 whose text written by Enderunlu Fazıl is among the examples that include both classical and new trends at its illumination and using a single figure on its leaves. The artwork, which consisted of thirty-seven male and thirty-nine female figures living on four continents, had been worked and consisted of two separate sections and collected in one volume. It is a manuscript with colorful naturalist floral compositions on the title pages in its two sections, and in which herbal, rumi and geometric designs are applied in the Halkari technique at the heading of the chapter. In the scope of this study, the decorative elements in two separate sections will be discussed with their similarities and differences and compared with the examples of the available periods.

The 27 silver bindings described with their inscriptions date from 1254 to 1899: 7 of them before 1800. The 140-page “Catalogue of the Liturgical Metalwork,” describes, illustrates, and presents all inscriptions on each of some 100 of the most important pieces of Armenian Church from the large and historical collection of formerly part of the treasury of the Catholicosate of Cilicia in Sis, now the core of the Cilician Museum in Antelias, Lebanon at the seat of the Holy See of Cilicia. It represents one of the most important and authentic pre-Genocide collections of Armenian religious art to have reached us. Despite centuries of invasion and strife by determined enemies of the Cilician state and its catholicosate, including the final solution of the Young Turk government of the Ottoman Empire in 1915, which resulted in the total destruction of its former capital and religious headquarters of seven centuries, these objects survived. Thanks to the desperate attempt on the part of a few clergymen to save as many of its important movable and sanctified liturgical treasures, a miraculous and representative collection is now securely preserved to be visited and admired by Armenians and non-Armenians alike. The collection is a tribute to those spiritual leaders who sacrificed everything to preserve these inanimate relics that have been touched by the grace of centuries of faith and reverence. The catalogue is divided into four parts: I. Reliquaries, pp. 158-188; II. Chalices, pp. 189-217; III. Silver Bindings, pp. 218-249; IV. Miscellaneous Liturgical Objects and Xač‘k‘ars, pp. 250-283. The work will be presented in four posts each followed by the Notes, Glossary of Technical Terms, Liturgical Vessels, Bibliography, pp. 284-297.

The MA ‘Manuscript Cultures’ is a one-year course at Universität
Hamburg that combines humanities and sciences. The study programme covers a broad spectrum of manuscript cultures, especially in Asia, Africa and Europe. Scholarships are available.
For more information see
https://www.csmc.uni-hamburg.de/study-at-csmc/master.html
For questions, register until 1 June:
https://www.csmc.uni-hamburg.de/calendar-page.html?event=77585

Özet: İslam devletlerinin süsleme sanatlarında görülen ortak bir özellik, bezemelerde kullanılan ve desenleri oluşturan motiflerin genel anlamda birbirine benzemesidir. Türk-İslam kültür çevresinde, mimariden tekstile; kitap sanatlarından ahşaba, küçük el sanatlarından gündelik kullanım eşyasına kadar farklı malzeme üzerinde değişik ölçülerde uygulanması bu görüşü desteklemektedir. Sanat geleneklerini Timurlulardan devralan Karakoyunlu ve Akkoyunlu Türkmenlerinin kitap sanatları gelişimine büyük katkıları oldukları bilinmektedir. Türkmen Hanedanlar tıpkı mimaride olduğu gibi kitap sanatları üsluplarını da yayılmış oldukları İran ve Anadolu'ya taşımış ve sanatçılar vasıtasıyla bu etkileri Osmanlı'ya kadar getirerek gelişime katkıda bulunmuşlardır. Akkoyunlulara bir dönem başkentlik yapmış Diyarbakır'da dönemin mimari yapılarındaki taş süslemelerin, kitap kapaklarının bezeme tasarımlarına benzemesi dikkat çekici özelliklerdir. Bu benzerlikler, genel anlamda süsleme sanatlarında görülen ortak bir anlayışın dışında motifsel bazda değil tasarımsal olarak farklı bir malzemedeki yansımayı göstermektedir. Safa Parlı Camii'nde mihrap, minber ve minare süslemelerinde dönemin el yazmalarının kapaklarında sıkça rastlanılan şemseli salbekli cild tasarımlarının uygulanması, kitap süsleme tasarımlarının mimari süslemelere kaynak olabileceğine işaret etmektedir. Abstract: A main mutual characteristic of decorative arts of Islamic states is the general resemblence of motifs which form the patterns and used in decorations. This view is strengthened by the implication of those motifs which are performed in different sizes and on different materials from arcitechture to textile, from manuscripts to wood decoration from small handcraft to common tools in the general frame of Turkish-Islamic culture. It is known that with taking over their artistic traditions * Arş. Gör., Niğde Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Sanat Tarihi Bölümü – Niğde

RESUMO
 
O presente estudo estabelece uma evolução detalhada dos suportes de informação, assim como a historiografia do objeto livro, seus materiais e métodos de confecção através das diferentes culturas até a atualidade. Descreve brevemente a respeito das técnicas de encadernação ao longo da história, enfatiza a importância da arte moderna, contemporânea e conceitual para a instauração do livro como objeto de arte. Discute sobre o tratamento atribuído as coleções especiais de livros de artista na ciência da informação e por fim, propõe uma discussão a respeito da ampliação, superação e equivalência de valores e funções do suporte da informação em contraposição ao conteúdo que carrega.

Palavras-chave: História do livro. Encadernação. Arte Contemporânea. Livro
de Artista. Coleções Especiais. Informação Artística.



ABSTRACT


This study establishes a detailed evolution of information support, as well as the historiography of the book, its materials and methods of manufacture through different cultures to the present. Briefly describes about the binding techniques throughout history, emphasizes the importance of modern, contemporary and conceptual art, for establishment of the book as an art object. Discusses the treatment assigned  to special collections of artist books in information science and finally, proposes a discussion about the magnification, overcoming and equivalency values and functions of the information support in opposition to the content it carries.

Keywords: History of the book. Binding. Contemporary Art. Artist’s Book.
Special Collections.  Artistic Information.

https://app.publicacoes.even3.com.br/tcc/de-suporte-de-informacao-a-objeto-de-arte-o-livro-e-suas-perspectivas-123154#!#nav-resumo

https://doi.org/10.29327/4112315

Even though the printing of books in Armenian began in Venice in 1511/12,
just six decades after Gutenberg’s invention, the hand copying of texts continued
into the nineteenth century. This traditional method of creating books was
carried out in monasteries where the free labour of the monk as scribe was more
economical than the purchased of mass-produced printed books. The fear often
expressed in the West that printing would put scribes and copyists out of work
was also expressed among Armenians. 

An enigmatic portolan chart by Baldasaro da Maiolo Visconte (1589)
A chart signed by Baldasaro da Maiolo Visconte, and dated 1589, is kept in the archives of Alpes-Maritimes, France, where it was used as bookbinding for notarial archives.

This chart relates obviously to the sequence of portolan charts of the Mediterranean by the Maggiolo dynasty in Genova, and their typical features as 16th century portolan charts. But it presents several unusual features: the coastline is cutup in four pieces rotated at 90° from each other; there is no name of harbors; it is ruled by a single diamond-shaped network including the usual primary, half and quarter-wind rhumb-lines.

The presentation first describes the geometric and cartographic aspects and the hydrographic codes of the document. Secondly, the structure in four “jigsaw puzzle” pieces is presented and analyzed regarding the possibility and accuracy of rebuilding the Mediterranean chart by connecting the four pieces between them. An image processing is performed allowing to reduce distortions and creases impact of the document, and to reconstruct the whole chart. Measurements are performed concerning the geographic orientation and scale of the chart, and compared with reference publications.

Finally, a hypothesis is worked out, which points to its utility as a tool of reproduction of portolan charts in Maggiolo’s workshop, this "master copy" chart swiveling around the central point of the diamond network as a carousel distributing the four pieces in succession, and allowing the cartographer, with the help of a pantograph, to reconstruct precisely and quickly the coast line of the whole Mediterranean, possibly with an enlargement of scale. This “master copy” chart in four pieces presents the interest of higher reproduction accuracy and with a size of pantograph easier to handle, than a single-piece chart of the Mediterranean at the same scale would have required.

Annex III adresses the issue of "polar" vs. "cartesian" navigation and some thoughts about the difficulties for modern scholars to get into the ancient polar view, at a time  when accuracy of charts was not as important as fidelity.

Traditional Armenian bindings were fashioned well into the eighteenth century and even occasionally in the early nineteenth century, even in distant Armenian diaspora communities. Even though the physical technique of traditional Armenian bookbinding – the sewing of quires and headbands, the method of attaching the boards, the application of leather covers, and the use of linings – remained unchanged until late, eventually to be replaced at the end of the eighteenth century and after by western bookbinding fashions, the decoration of leather bindings from specific regions undergoes a radical change or changes in the seventeenth century.

The overview on the construction of Armenian manuscripts discusses the following topics: Du rouleau au codex, Dimensions des manuscrits, Parchemin ou papier?, Les reliures des manuscrits arméniens à inscriptions, l’Illustration, La présentation d’un évangile manuscrit enluminé, Les illustrations des évangiles, Conclusion.  Miniatures in color placed before the Conclusion illustrate the text.

The top officials who led Venice, including the doge as head of state, and the many rettori, or rulers of Venetian territories abroad, were elected from a hereditary class of patricians. For some of these elected positions, a manuscript document (Promissione ducale, Commissione ducale, Capitolare, or Commissione/Giuramento, depending upon the office) containing variously the commission and oath of office and the statutes governing conduct, was produced for each new office-holder. This paper examines such Venetian documents now in Vienna, to summarize how illumination evolved in them, and to argue that painting was encouraged to some extent by the state to glorify the office-holders as a collective, but that because production and decoration could be partly over-seen and financed by the recipient, these acts served increasingly as vehicles to celebrate individuals. The article concludes with discussion of the potential benefits of expanding and publishing the database of ducali which underpins my study, for various historical fields including art history, prosopography, paleography, the history of binding, of textiles, and of costume.

This article explores the valences of monastic wastepaper and binding waste in post-Reformation England. It argues that wastepaper and parchment is palimpsestic, capable of telling stories (to those who care to look) through its traces and tears. I focus on two texts that respond to and provide evidence of this non-textual legibility: John Bale’s The Laboryouse Journey & serche of John Leylande, for Englandes Antiquitees (1549) and John Aubrey’s ‘Digression’ in his Natural History of Wiltshire (1656-1691). Writing a century apart both authors extract narratives from the old, dismembered books they encounter. Whereas Bale shapes an aggressively Protestant account of English religious history from the scattered sheets of dispersed monastic manuscripts, Aubrey reads a tale of violent loss and jarring historical change. More generally, however, monastic waste material forms part of an all-encompassing narrative in the early modern world: the trajectory from animal skin or flax, to manuscript, to waste readily demonstrates the universal trajectory of organic matter. Finally, reading the creases and folds of salvaged sheets enables a reconsideration of their phenomenological categorization as waste: waste is neither empty nor worthless. Instead, it evinces an abundant proliferation and potentiality, teeming with meaning, utility and ink.

Forgotten Heritage: Mustafa bin 'Umar al-Miistari, a Calligrapher from the 18th Century

Summary
Mustafa bin 'Umar al-Mustari finished his 23rd transcript of the Holy Qur'an in 1173. AH (1759/60 AD). This transcript is kept today in The Historical Archives of Sarajevo, under the signature 593. According to known information it is possible to
credit him with two more transcripts of the Holy Qur'an and one other transcript of an Arabic-Turkish dictionary. His family name was Hadzalic. Mustafa probably graduated from the Karadjoz-bey madrassah in Mostar, where he might have learned calligraphy. We can only assume that the illuminator and bookbinder were also from Mostar. The great number of manuscripts he copied give us an abundance of information on his place in society as an artist.

ÖZET Amasya II. Bayezid İl Halk Kütüphanesinde bulunan 15. yüzyıl ciltleri, şehrin her bakımdan gelişme gösterdiği Şehzade şehri olduğu dönemi kapsamaktadır. 15. yüzyılda bir taraftan, yüzyılın özelliklerini yansıtan ciltler yapılırken diğer taraftan da Anadolu Selçuklu cilt geleneği doğrultusunda yapılmış örneklere rastlanılmak-tadır. Ciltlerin tarihleri her ne kadar Osmanlı dönemine işaret etse de ciltler genel karakterleri ve süsleme özellikleri itibariyle Anadolu Selçuklu cilt geleneği özellik-leri taşımaktadır. Bu da 15. yüzyıl erken dönemleri cilt anlayışının, Anadolu Sel-çuklu cildinden Osmanlı cildine geçiş devri olduğuna işaret etmektedir. Anadolu'-da Selçuklu cilt üslûbu, 13. yüzyılın 3. çeyreğinden itibaren Memlûkler, 14. yüzyıl-dan itibaren de İlhanlılar ve Karamanoğulları başta olmak üzere, Anadolu beylik-leri ciltlerinde devam etmiş ve bu cilt üslûbu aynı zamanda Osmanlı cilt sanatına geçişi de sağlamıştır. ABSTRACT Influence of Anatolian Seljuks Binding Tradition on 15th Century Ottoman Book-bindings in Bayezid II public Library in Amasya 15th century book-bindings in Bayezid II public library in Amasya include the period that is shahzadah city displaying development in ever respect. On one hand, samples reflecting peculiarities of the century were made in 15th century, on the other hand samples made as binding traditions of the Anatolia Seljuks are met. Although neverthless their dates point out the Ottoman period when the general characteristics and ornamentation properties of book-bindings are analyzed, their relation with binding traditions of the Seljuks is an indicator that the early periods of 14th century book-binding understanding was a transition period from Anatolia Seljuks book-binding to that of Ottoman's. Anatolia Seljuks book-binding style had continued on Mamluk bindings since 3th quarter of 13th century and then continued on Ilkhanids, Qaramanids and Anatolian Emirates bindings and, at the same time it provided transition to Ottoman book-binding art.

Semi-precious  stones  are  frequently  depicted  in  Roman  and  early Christian works of art, such as wall mosaics, paintings and textiles. These depictions present them as either  parts of jewelled frames, or as decora- tions in buildings,  architectural elements like
columns,  or other  objects like thrones, wreaths, shields,  tables,  crosses,  book bindings, etc. They appear usually  as green,  blue  and  red  in colour,  mostly  of oblong  and oval shapes.  The prototypes of these gems, or rather the glass rendering of them,  is the focus of this chapter. Only recently  discovered  and other- wise unknown, these  large-size  (7 × 4 × 0.5 cm) emerald green  glass gems deriving  from  six early  Christian  excavations in northern Greece and a harbour site in Constantinople, will be presented. Their use will be discussed  in relation to their symbolic meaning connected to theological texts and  to their  representations in contemporaneous mural  paintings and mosaics and textiles.  Furthermore, Thessaloniki is identified as the production site of at least one type of these  gems according  to relevant finds from a late
sixth-century glass workshop, while the distribution pat- tern  of these  products in the  wider region  of Thessaloniki’s  hinterland will shed light on a facet of the circulation of glass objects on a regional trade level.

ABSTRACT
The Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences was established by historian Count József
Teleki, the first President of the Academy in 1826. It, growing with help from various sources, was
opened in 1844 for scholars after the necessary organizing and processing and since 1867, it was
opened for the use of all citizens of the country.
There are 810 Turkish manuscripts in four separate collections in the library. The artworks
written in different centuries and on various subjects, enriched by the donations of collectors, are
valuable treasures waiting for researchers to examine in terms of book arts.
In the selection of the artworks in the library collection, the application methods of the rosettes
used on their binders, as well as the understanding of pattern design that has changed over the
centuries, has also been effective.
The rosette form has been studied in the Turkish decorative arts with its applications on
illumination, binder, tile, carpet and many different materials by developing and changing over the
centuries.
The first artwork examined is Hüsrev-name-i Firaki with no. Török, O 254. The rosette on the
binder of poetic hymnal which had no colophon page and dated on 16th century had been applied as
cold pressing. Bahrü’l Cevahir, the second artwork with no. Török, O 227 is a masnavi and is the poetic
artwork dated M. 1622 written by poet Muhammed Hilmi. The rosette used on binder of the artwork was
worked as bottom separation. The third artwork with no. Török, Qu 28 dated M. 1733 and named Cemnüme fi- Fenni’l- Cografya is a geography book translated from French. Binder of the book is colourful
and its rosette, bracket and ruler with three thread rumi were applied by using the yekşah technique.
In the scope of this study, improvement of the rosette form of such three manuscripts dated in
16th, 17th and 18th centuries and selected from the Oriental Collection of the Library of the Hungarian
Academy of Sciences in Budapest will be handled by comparing to pattern designs (hatayi group, rumi,
cloud) in the rosettes.

This is the fourth of a number of articles on various aspects of the Armenian manuscript tradition from the massive catalogue of the 2007 exhibition organized by Claude Mutafian, Arménie : la magie de l’écrit, held in Marseille during the Year of Armenian in France (Anneé de l’Arménie en France), 21 September 2006 to 14 July 2007.  The final article will soon follow as pdf version and deal with early printing and Kütahya ceramics.

Abstract (ITA):
Nella sua semplicità formale e tematica questo manoscritto sulla legatura libraria condensa in sé i molteplici aspetti tipici del secolo in cui è stato redatto, il XVIII, storiograficamente noto ai più come il “secolo dei Lumi”. Tra le sue righe vergate a mano, quasi di getto, senza troppa attenzione alla forma e alla calligrafia, ma solo alla possibilità di fissare nero su bianco appunti e riflessioni di un anonimo maestro legatore, ritroviamo vivido e attualissimo tutto il fermento culturale di quegli anni, a testimonianza (peraltro non del tutto scontata) del fatto che le influenze culturali ed “enciclopedistiche” del XVIII secolo hanno avuto modo di varcare anche la soglia del monastero di San Martino, fino ad addentrarsi all’interno del laboratorio del nostro anonimo legatore. Per coglierne la presenza non è necessario alcuno sforzo: fin dalle prime battute, infatti, il nostro anonimo autore fornisce al suo lettore, quasi certamente un addetto ai lavori, forse proprio un collega di bottega, precisi riferimenti a tecniche, ad autori e a opere tipiche di quegli anni e che hanno segnato, in special modo per il mondo del libro e delle tecniche legate alla sua produzione, una codificazione e un rapidissimo sviluppo in chiave industriale.
---
Abstract (ENG):
By examining an unpublished 18th-century manuscript from the archive of the Benedictine abbey of San Martino delle Scale (near Monreale and Palermo), I will focus on the fascinating evolution of book binding and marbling of books techniques, from Gabriel Naudé (author of the precious book Advis pour dresser une bibliothèque) to Ephraim Chambers (author of the Cyclopaedia, one of the first general encyclopedias printed in English), until to the Encyclopédie in the Age of Enlightenment.

The arrival of printing in South Africa occasioned a great many social changes: it facilitated governance, participated in the production and propagation of anthropological and scientific ‘knowledge’ about the place and its peoples, required the development of orthographies for African languages, and served the spread of western education and of Christianity—with all of its attendant complex and ambiguous consequences. Print, Text & Book Cultures in South Africa explores the power of print and the politics of the book in South Africa from a range of disciplinary perspectives—historical, bibliographic, literary critical, sociological, and cultural studies. The essays collected here, by leading international scholars, address a range of topics as varied as: the role of print cultures in contests over the nature of the colonial public sphere in the nineteenth century; orthography; iimbongi, orature and the canon; book-collecting and libraries; print and transnationalism; Indian Ocean cosmopolitanisms; books in war; how the fates of South African texts, locally and globally, have been affected by their material instantiations; photocomics and other ephemera; censorship, during and after apartheid; books about art and books as art; local academic publishing; and the challenge of ‘book history’ for literary and cultural criticism in contemporary South Africa.

This volume is the most comprehensive and representative introduction to the study of print and of the book in South Africa, showcasing the best of current research (while problematising the nature of ‘the book’, and exploring the difficult conditions for print in the country). It takes the measure of the impact of book-historical and related fields of study on South African scholarship, while pointing the way towards avenues for future research.

Authors (in order of appearance): Leon de Kock, Isabel Hofmeyr, Meg Samuelson, John Gouws, Lucy Graham, Rita Barnard, Andrew van der Vlies, Jarad Zimbler, Patrick Flanery, Lize Kriel, Archie Dick, Hedley Twidle, Jeff Opland, Deborah Seddon, Lily Saint, Peter McDonald, Margriet van der Waal, Natasha Distiller, Sarah Nuttall, Bronwyn Law-Viljoen, Beth Le Roux.

*

Print, Text and Book Cultures in South Africa is a field-defining contribution to the country’s literary scholarship. Andrew van der Vlies’s introductory essay maps the conceptual terrain in a systematic and engaging way, illustrating its relevance to South Africa’s literary and cultural history. The essays that follow demonstrate the archival richness and liveliness of the field, while opening doors to future research. Beyond South Africa, the book will be exemplary in showing how book histories develop under postcolonial conditions.
-- David Attwell, author of J.M. Coetzee: South Africa and the Politics of Writing (1993) and Rewriting Modernity: Studies in Black South African Literary History (2005), and co-editor of The Cambridge History of South African Literature (2012)

South African literary criticism has been rejuvenated by an emphasis on the materiality of book production and circulation, and the historical embedding of those institutions and practices that turned texts into ‘works’ considered worthy of our attention. This elegantly framed collection of readable, provocative essays examines the relations between the production and consumption of books to present a rich social history of South African print cultures. It is indispensible reading for anyone seeking to come to terms with the processes and practices, both national and transnational, that have fashioned this country’s literature and the ways in which it is read and understood.
-- Michael Titlestad, University of the Witwatersrand

This is an extraordinarily rewarding book. Its essays by key scholars and book-trade practitioners attend to the rich complexity of the varied trajectories and meanings of South African print culture. The introduction by Andrew van der Vlies offers a tour de force statement of the complex interplay between South African social, political, and economic realities and book history methodologies; each piece that follows charts a compelling course through the shifting contexts for South African print, whether to bring those contexts to bear on literary interpretation, or to highlight the interdependence of print and history.
-- Sarah Brouillette, author of Postcolonial Writers in the Global Literary Marketplace (2007)

Wide-ranging and sophisticated, this collection of essays does not simply add more case studies to the book-historical canon but contributes new models to the debate.
-- Leah Price, Harvard University

Thought provoking, wide ranging in its subject material, and dynamically edited, this collection marks a turning point in the study of book cultures in South Africa. These essays, exemplars of recently published work in the field, draw attention to the rich, interdisciplinary seams of material uncovered by key exponents of South African print culture history. The work as a whole demonstrates how one can engage with the confluence of text, people, history, culture, and print technology in South African contexts. It will prove one of the first ports of call for anyone wishing to undertake further journeys in this subject area in the future.
-- David Finkelstein, co-editor of The Book History Reader (2001) and The Edinburgh History of the Book in Scotland (vol. 4, 2007), and co-author of An Introduction to Book History (2005)

La colección de libros a la que referiremos en este artículo se compone de alrededor de 1200 ejemplares que forman parte de la biblioteca personal del escritor alemán Werner Hoffmann; en su mayoría son ediciones europeas sobre literatura alemana, teatro, arte e historia publicadas entre 1840 y 1990. Pero, sobre todo, hay libros con encuadernaciones particulares o inusuales de carácter editorial que presentan distinguidos diseños. Partiendo de un breve recorrido por la historia de la encuadernación industrial, en este artículo nos ocuparemos de analizar algunos de estos ejemplares.

El Grupo de Trabajo de Patrimonio Bibliográfico de la Red de Bibliotecas Universitarias Españolas (REBIUN) se crea en 1998 con el fin de afrontar los problemas comunes, tanto en aspectos de gestión y conservación como de difusión, que planteaban las colecciones históricas conservadas en las universidades españolas. En este artículo se enumeran las distintas actividades y proyectos llevados a cabo por el Grupo desde sus inicios hasta el año 2017  =  The Working Group on Bibliographic Heritage of the Network of Spanish University Libraries (REBIUN) was created in 1998 in order to resolve common problems in both aspects of management and conservation and diffusion of historical collections held in Spanish universities. In this article the various activities and projects undertaken by the Group since its establishment through 2017 are described.

The paper summarizes the results of the development of application of scientific methods to the study of manuscripts at the Laboratory for Codicological Research and Scientific Expertise of Documents at the Manuscript Department of the National Library of Russia. The Laboratory was founded twenty five years ago with assistance and encouragement from Academician Dmitry Likhachev, and right from the beginning its activities were aimed at examination of non-textual information manuscripts can provide. A manuscript has been viewed as a system of traces, and every trace perceived as a phenomenon in itself. Each trace has certain physical characteristics that can be investigated and classified, and its origins and means of emergence can be detected. Now we can say that the Laboratory’s activities have given start to the formation of a new expert paradigm in the study of manuscripts which can be called ‘the study of traces’. It called forth the appearance of a new approach, a sort of «phenomenology of manuscript».
The paper presents several case examples of the study of traces using new methods in the research of manuscripts performed at the Laboratory. Over the past years specialists at the Laboratory developed various methods encompassing a wide range of problems involved in the study of manuscripts: from the visualization and fixation of watermarks on paper and the first layers of palimpsests to the identification of instruments used in the making of bindings and reconstruction of use of a manuscript through the traces of wax and fingerprints.