Listening to Fifteenth-Century Paper

Date: 12 June 2017
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Location: UVA Special Collections
Lecturer: Timothy D. Barrett - Professor, School of Library and Information Science and the Center for the Book, University of Iowa

Papers made in Europe during the fifteenth century are renowned for their mysterious longevity, light color, and pliant durability. The archives, however, have yielded precious little about how exactly these papers were made. For the student of the craft who aspires to make modern handmade papers that will sit comfortably next to the historical sheets in a conservation binding, this is a frustrating situation. In the early 1970s William Barrow demonstrated that the paper itself could yield important information about how it was made. During this lecture Timothy Barrett will describe his quest to use non-destructive analytical techniques to reveal more of the secrets of these awe-inspiring papers. Paper samples will be on display and hands-on inspection by audience members following the talk will be encouraged.

Sponsored by Bob McCamant of Sherwin Beach Press.