The creation of 18 clamshell boxes to supplement the rebound ledgers in tailor made bookcase in the Shelbourne Hotel check in lobby.
With the invention of the printing press and the loose type setting of Gutenberg human communication entered a new era. Manuscripts became either obsolete or lived on in multiple printed copies. The book now not only held information but became a vehicle of spreading it and became instrumental in a new dynamic world.
This posed a new challenge to bookbinders who had to adapt and even compromise their bindings to keep up the new reality of mass communication made possible by the printing press
‘Les Ans du Roi’ is a typical example of a book from this revolutionary era, not bound to sit finely on a shelf, but bound to communicate its content to the wider world.
Being a conservator allows me to look under the ‘bonnet’ of a book and see how this period in history has changed the book too.
The Ox Bindery was commissioned to rebind account books, guestbooks, staff wages, shares, cellar books, inventory and valuation ledgers, some dating back as far as 1869. We collected the books from the ‘little museum’ – which was an annex of … Read More
Sir Denis Mahon regularly consulted and collected travel guides over the course of his life and his collection contains a number of rare and informative texts. This display aims to showcase a selection of Italian travel guidebooks from the 16th … Read More
The Magna Carta or Great Charter is the foundation stone of the rule of law in the British Isles. It has provided the outline for modern democracies and has managed to remain relevant to the cause of human rights even … Read More
‘You cannot write a history of bookbinding by just studying the decorated fine bindings as you cannot write a history on humanity by just studying the ascendancy.’Dr Nicholas Pickwoad Over the three centuries no comprehensive history of bookbinding has been … Read More
In the North Mayo town of Ballina, the local businessman Jackie Clarke was an avid collector of Irish historical material comprising over 100,000 items spanning 400 years. It contains several proclamations, newspapers hunger strike material and personal items from Leaders … Read More
The Kings Inn’s Library holds a magnificent collection of books and as a law library may suggest not always related to legal matters. One of these is this publication of Charles Darwin ‘On the Geology of South America’. ‘On the … Read More