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LIMP BINDINGS FROM THE VATICAN LIBRARY

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This book has been made possible with the help, efforts and contributions of the following persons, institutions and companies: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana H.E Ulla Gudmundson Ambassador of Sweden to The Holy See Ida Petron’s Memorial Fund Papyrus Thanks to: His Most Reverend Eminence Raffaele Cardinal Farina, S.D.B. Prefect Msgr. Cesare Pasini Vice Prefect Ambrogio M. Piazzoni Dr. Luigi Cacciaglia Ms Angela Nuñez Gaitan Ms Marta Grimaccia Father William J. Sheehan Helena Wangefelt Ström Dagmar Limberg

© 2013 The written instructions and photographs in this volume are intended for the personal use of the reader and may be used for that purpose only. Any other use, especially commercial use, is forbidden under law without written permission of the copyright holder.

Introductory essays and Vatican binding descriptions edited by: Peter D. Verheyen Translation to English introduction: Lotta Helleberg Translation to Italian: Malin Falkman, Carlo Felicetti Book cover and map designer, typographic adviser: Annika Petersson, Inscriptorum Artist photographs: Lina Nääs Technical illustrations: Daniel Rehnfeldt Photographs on pages 14, 23, 28, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 47, 50, 53, 54 and 56 are reproduced by permission of Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, with all rights reserved Photograph on page 31: Richard Årlin Photograph on page 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69 and 70: Berglunds foto Setting: Anki Förste, 1:e Tant Orange Printing: Intellecta Strålins, Sweden, 2013 Cover: Plite 250 gr Book block: Multidesign Smooth white 150 gr Printed in 1 000 copies isbn 978-91-637-2379-7

CONTENT Foreword by H.E. Ulla Gudmundson, Ambassador of Sweden to The Holy See Introduction by Monica Langwe The Vatican Library – A historical background The Conservation Department The limp bindings Corrado, Sweynheym and the first antiqua by Richard Årlin arch.cap. s. pietro, Puntature Bis 35 s. Maria in Cosmedin xiii 2 arch.cap. s. pietro, Campomorto, libri di grani e bestiame 10 stamp. pal. v 1075 stamp. pal. v 1852 stamp. pal. v 1149 arch. cap. s. pietro, Quietanze 15 arch. cap. s. pietro, Ricordi 11 arch. cap. s. pietro, Distribuzioni, feste e mandati 31 stamp. pal. iv 957 arch. chig. 631 Gallery Carmencho Arregui, Italy Chela Metzger, USA Guy Begbie, UK Hedi Kyle, USA Jody Alexander, USA Lennart Mänd, Estonia Manne Dahstedt, Sweden Monica Langwe, Sweden Peter D. Verheyen, USA Sün Evrard, France Suzanne Schmollgruber, Italy Map – inside cover

11 12 15 21 27 31 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 47 50 54 56 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70

FOREWORD

The Vatican Library is a treasure chamber for lovers of books and of history. One of my most cherished privileges as Ambassador of Sweden to the Holy See has been to visit there, to marvel at beautiful manuscripts, painstakingly gilt and coloured, early expressions of what has gradually become the Western religious, intellectual and cultural patrimony.

And the collections of this magnificent library can be studied from many angles.

Swedish book artist Monica Langwe has explored the many different forms of socalled “limp binding” techniques, functional and flexible binding styles, developed primarily for practical use.

In this exquisite little book, Langwe presents eleven volumes from the Vatican Library, illustrating an infinite variety of materials, methods and structure, as well as their milieu-the Library and its history, the binding process and the professionals who safeguard this precious heritage.

In the gallery section, eleven modern book artists show how they, in turn, have been inspired in their creative work by the ancient techniques of limp binding – an excellent example of how tradition and renewal go hand in hand.

Ulla Gudmundson Ambassador of Sweden to the Holy See

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INTRODUCTION

At the end of Borgo Pio stands the Porta Angelica, the gate leading in to the Vatican.

After passing through, walking along Via Sant´ Anna, past the passport control, past the post office, and into the courtyard Cortile de Belvedere one stands in front of one of the mightiest libraries in the world. Although the walk took me about 10 minutes, in reality my journey was much longer, counting the time involved in the preparations, including obtaining the coveted accreditation card that enabled my visit. Once inside, the library offers exciting opportunities to study a history reaching almost 2000 years back in time.

Ironically, I did not read a single document during my visit. Instead I focused on a small topic within the library – the bindings of documents – and then I narrowed it down further to the small niche of limp bindings, see page 27. The Vatican Library has 1.1 million printed books and 80,000 manuscripts organized into 114 collections. Therefore it was not easy to identify those bindings, especially since I had no prior knowledge about specific authors, titles, or shelf numbers, which normally is a prerequisite to retrieve books from the archive. With the invaluable help of Dr. Luigi Cacciaglia in the archive, I finally identified books with this particular binding.

In this volume, influenced by the original books, I use the titling font Corrado made by my friend Richard Årlin, printmaking artist and hand type-caster. It is a digital version of his own hand-cut and handcast type based on the first Roman font printed in four books only in the years 1465–67. Together with font designer Annika Petersson I made a map to make it easier to relate to the information and to obtain an overview of the library. I have created images, inspired by historic books and tales about books and reading throughout time, together with photographer Lina Nääs.

In the chapter about the Vatican Library I review the history of the library itself, striving to place the selected books in a historical context to give them their own identity. During my visit I had the privilege to visit the Conservation Department where I met Ms Angela Nuñez Gaitan and Ms Marta Grimaccia, both of whom generously shared their deep knowledge and expertise in book restoration.

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© 2013 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana

© 2013 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana

THE VATICAN LIBRARY A HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Vatican Library, beautifully situated on the Vatican Hill, is one of the oldest libraries in the world. The library itself is a link in a chain with a history that is almost two thousand years old. Archeologists have found traces from the fourth century and forward of rooms that the Popes used as study-chambers and archives for their books. The title “Bibliothecarius” of the Roman Church, appearing for the first time in 784, was given to the Librarian Theophylactus.

THIRTEENTH CENTURY In the first half of the thirteenth century the library was dispersed. The Pope and the Curia moved to Avignon and the manuscripts that were left in Italy were dispelled. The reason for the moving was a conflict between the Papacy and the French Crown. A new library was organized in Avignon and became the largest book collection of its time in the West. Several centuries later parts of it came back to the Vatican Library. The Pope and the Curia eventually returned to Rome together with the profound contemporary renewal of scholarship and culture and brought about the creation of a new collection of books. The oldest known inventory, which is not complete, was drawn up in 1294 and describes 443 manuscripts.

FIFTEENTH CENTURY Pope Nicholas v (1447–1455) was the founder of the new papal library that became the Vatican Library of today. During his papacy he collected about 1300 manuscripts, and began the work of organizing them as a universal library. By purchasing and copying manuscripts from throughout the world he created a library that encompassed all aspects of knowledge and made it available for scholars. The library staff at that time consisted of the librarian Giovanni Tortelli and thereafter Platina who at that time had two, sometimes three assistants and one bookbinder. A record of books loaned from 1475 to 1547 still exists (Vat. lat 3964 and 3966). Nicholas V´s work was ambitious and he succeeded in creating one of the richest libraries in Europe during his papacy.

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Ms Angela Nuñez Gaitan and Ms Marta Grimaccia © 2013 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana

THE CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT TODAY: Currently two generations work side by side in the Conservation Department – the young learn from the experienced and try to learn from the tradition of the Vatican Library, and the old guard learn more contemporary conservation techniques from the younger conservators.

The education of the conservators, previously apprenticeship, at the Vatican has changed. After 1980, short courses in conservation were offered, and in 1992 the “European School for the Conservation of Books and Library Materials” in Spoleto was started by Ms. Maria Lilli di Franco.

Ms Angela Nuñez Gaitan and Ms Marta Grimaccia came to the conservation workshop for the first time in 2001 on temporary appointments and were among the first staff to have gone through the new training program. In 2004 (as the first women in history) they were asked to join the staff permanently. Ms Angela Nuñez Gaitan became head of the department in 2011.

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ARCH. CAP. S. PIETRO, Campomorto, libri di grani e bestiame 10 © 2013 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana

ARCH. CAP. S. PIETRO, Campomorto, libri di grani e bestiame 10 This volume is one in a series and records income and expenditures for wheat and food during the years of 1736 to 1737. The entire series includes various documents regarding the property of the Chapter of St. Peter. It measures 35.3 x 24 x 3 cm. The text block, made of paper, consists of 188 pages in 7 sections.

The cover is made of paperboard covered with parchment.

The text block is sewn with two chain stitches with the sewing stations at the ends incorporating the headbands.

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The cover, made of paperboard, is covered with parchment. It has turn-ins on all sides that are fastened through both the paperboard and parchment with only two parchment tackets on the flap. A folded paper support is attached to the inside of the spine at the center with parchment tackets, see illustration above.

The cover has a flap and two leather straps that are attached to the cover and the flap for fastening. The stripe on the front cover is fastened with a knot and on the flap by lacing the stripe into three slots, see illustration below.

The text block is attached to the cover with a “X�-tacket going over the folded paper support. New holes are made for the tacket in the first and the last section.

The endbands are fastened to the cover with two parchment tackets.

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ARCH. CAP. S. PIETRO, Ricordi ii © 2013 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana

ARCH. CAP. S. PIETRO, Ricordi 11 This volume is a register of assets, incomes and other collected documents for the years 1545–1556 regarding the property of the Chapter of St. Peter. It measures 29.8 x 20.7 x 3.5 cm. The text block, made of paper, consists of 334 pages and 13 sections. The cover is made of parchment.

The book block is sewn with the thread wrapped twice around each of the three leather straps. The sewing stations at the ends also include the headbands.

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The parchment cover has turn-ins on all sides that are fastened with four parchment tackets. The fore-edge flap has separate pieces of parchment inserted under the turn-ins to act as a reinforcement.

The leather strips are laced through slots from the inside to the outside of the cover and are fastened on the front of the cover with parchments tackets, see illustration to the right. To the left they are laced but otherwise loose on the backcover.

Three bands are placed on the cover spine, each made of three layers of paper with an outerlayer of leather.

The text block is fastened to the cover with parchment tackets that go between the sections and around the leather straps on the inside and through and over the leather bands on the outside.

The ends of the tackets are threaded between the cover and the leather bands.

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SUPPORT COVER LEATHER STRAP SECTION

front/ back

The bands are fastened to the cover with decorative parchment tackets.

Two leather straps attached to the cover and flap are used as ties. The straps are fastened to the cover by lacing through the slots in the cover, see illustration above.

A piece of parchment is placed on the reverse of the front cover to reinforce the area where the tie is attached.

The endbands are fastened to the cover with two parchment tackets.

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..

REGULE DE LA VITA SPIRITUALE ET SECRETA THEOLOGIA ARCH. CAP. S. PIETRO, Puntature Bis 35 The text of this one section booklet is a reproduction of the preface of a religious book Regule de la vita Spirituale et secreta Theologia – Mccccciiiii. After scanning the original “prefatione” I made a new sequence for the pages, which enabled me to print them with the computer in the right order. I used handmade paper from Lessebo Sweden. The ornate capitals were missing and I created them using one of my printed papers as a background and a beautiful Italian Renaissance style character called Rialto.

Materials: I have inverted the model’s scheme by lacing the stitch inside the section and protected the external thread with two ‘croissants’ made of old manuscript parchment. There is an inner cover in plain handmade Khadi paper which is then wrapped with one of my roller printed papers. The angles of this second cover are folded inwards without any cutting to avoid the weakening of the paper. The two sides of the angle converge in the middle and are linked by a parchment “button”. This button is not mere decoration but makes possible the tightening of the thread.

Size: 21.4 x 15.3 x 0.4 cm.

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UNRESTRAINED ARCH. CAP. S. PIETRO, Ricordi II This register was tied up and closed to be preserved for a long time, that gave me the idea to open it up and unrestrain the structure. I focused on the sturdy leather strips that the book was bound to and laced out on the cover, this part is holding my hanging book. The book is soaked in water to release the fibres in both the paper and the parchment. I then hang it and let it take a free form when drying.

Material: Cover in reindeer parchment, bookblock in handmade paper and cooked leather strip, all material coloured with textile colour.

Size: 20 x 25 x 15 cm hanging size.

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