Mittwoch, 6. Mai 2009

Back again & in english words: Bookbinder's tools - than and now

Sending the further down mentioned Nuremberg-Link to Jeff Peachey, pricipal of the NYC based studio for book conservation, creator of finest bookbinding tools and blog author, I had only a slight idea about his interest in medieval personalities from Nuremberg ;–)
His blogged reaction was a big surprise for me and I am very thankfull. Because of the german text I wrote on the subject I was a bit amazed about what the computer translates from my words. So, today I tried to shorten my lines and transfer my thoughts in a decent english vocabulary.
« Looking at this picture :: Link :: I am really delighted to discover an medieval bookbinder at work. I am not an academic dyed historian and with my rusty english knowledges I should not be somewhat ‚know-it-all’. But let me point to some details under the prefix ‚IMHO’. The german text describes a ‚Spannrahmen’ which is known as a ‚Klotzpresse’ or ‚Pressbengel’ ( (lying press, finishing press). And I see instead of two, one book between (backing) boards. The ’weight’ ment in the description is a so called ‚Glätthammer’. In medieval times bookbinders have had two technics for smoothing down the rawness of the common (rag) paper: Lots of soft rubbing with a (agate) stone or sensitive beating with a heavy hammer on a stone after sprinkling with a mixture of glue and water. Using the hammer as a weight makes sense to me with its weight of 5 to 8 kilograms.
Most of all I like these little things in foreground: little hammers, a small bowl with glue (I wrote ‚Leimpöttchen’ i.e. a tender diminution for ‚glue pot’. And I find that the description ignored my one and only bookbinding tool - the ‚Falzbein’, in english speaking countries known as ‚bone folder’. »

For more information please enjoy Jeff's post :: Link ::


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