Staff marbling workshop in 2023 led by conservation summer intern Devon Blankenbaker
This fall, the conservation team will offer another opportunity in our series of free, drop-in workshops. These informal workshops offer a chance for spontaneous creativity in the context of learning about serious conservation research on materials and techniques of historical book bindings.
In 2023, summer conservation intern Devon Blankenbaker led a workshop on paper marbling. The Emory Libraries special collections include beautiful examples of marbling used on book covers, end papers, and text block edges.
Assortment of paste papers created in a 2024 two-part workshop
In 2024, we hosted a two-part workshop on paste papers. Paste papers are also found on book covers and end papers. These workshops were accompanied by an exhibit of 16th century pamphlets, bound in paste papers from the Pitts Theology Library Kessler Reformation Collection. During the first part of the workshop, participants were able to try their hands at the pattern techniques used by artists who originally created these historic covers. For the second workshop, Brandon Wason, head of Pitts Library Special Collections, graciously provided facsimile copies of a single-signature pamphlet from the Kessler Collection and was on hand with the conservation staff to explain and demonstrate the 16th century printing, folding, sewing, and page-cutting techniques used to create this 16-page booklet from a single sheet of paper. Participants who attended both workshops came away with a faithful structural model of a Kessler Collection pamphlet in a paste paper cover of their own creative design.
Telugu Manuscript, closed view of palm leaf pages
This year, the conservation team is partnering with European and World History librarian Chella Vaidyanathan for a workshop and exhibit about palm leaf manuscript structures. Participants will assemble and embellish a paperboard model, based on the Rose Library Telugu Mahābhārata Udyōga Parva (The Book of Effort) and the Ramayana poem palmleaf book. We will offer a brief introduction to the history of the palm leaf manuscript structure in Asia and provide resources for further exploration.
Digitized, fragile Telugu manuscript (ca. 1700), composed of a series of bound, dried palm leaves, each inscribed with text that was etched into the surface of the leaves.
The Emory Libraries Preservation Department staff will also share their important innovations in photographing, housing, and preserving these inherently fragile books.
Please join us in the Emory Libraries Conservation Lab on Sept. 18, 2025 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. for some more serious fun. Space is limited, but this event is free and open to all. Please register for our planning purposes: https://forms.office.com/r/NrGNk8ex8t
Detail of inscribed text on palm leaf manuscript pages, presented with insect damage
—Julie Newton, assistant conservator, Emory Libraries Preservation Department