Over the past several years, Durham University conservators have been tasked with treating a badly vandalised Shakespeare First Folio, a book that, due to its iconic status, has possibly one of the widest ranges of stakeholders invested in its wellbeing, use, and appreciation. From seasoned academic scholars to casual yet impassioned theatregoers, these stakeholders come to the conservation consultation impassioned, but not necessarily fully informed of what realistic outcomes look like, or the full implications of various treatment options’ implications. The demands of this project required conservators to find a way of presenting possibilities to stakeholders, then distilling an appropriate course of treatment from the stakeholders’ diversely opinionated responses. This presentation will detail the approach Durham conservators took to ensure a wide range of voices were heard in the decision-making process in the first place, and how those unique perspectives were allowed to feed into the project’s outcomes.

Our focus case study is around how we provide access to our most requested records, while ensuring they continue to be functional as an archival object in the years to come. Do we continue to artificially extend the life of records beyond their natural lifespan, or do we allow records to degrade and only be available for a shorter period? When should we use facsimiles to support access and preservation of the ‘original’? How can we best support readers and visitors with different needs? For example, school age groups with students who are visually impaired or blind, and thus require a more tactile approach to access. What do we consider acceptable change vs ‘damage’? Within this examination of our practices, we need to consider sustainability, resource, and ‘value’ against the Publics Record Act which states we must preserve all records in perpetuity – how can we balance this?

While our conservators are a key stakeholder, these decisions cannot be made in isolation. So, to approach this holistically, we ran object lessons that brought together multiple stakeholders – external specialists, conservators, historians, exhibition staff, cataloguers, educators, imaging staff, and EDI staff to create more inclusive and audience driven decision making frameworks that not only support decision making, but also accountability and responsibility across the organisation.

To assist in charting the full repair journey of a book, research into repairs carried out in the 20th century (post-1950) by the gamut of hand and trade bookbinders, book restorers and then emerging book conservators can provide unique insight. This era of book repair comes with the advantage of archival records and anecdotal evidence of repair practice and samples of contemporary materials used to implement the repairs. For example, for repairs carried out by trade or commercial bookbinders in the 1950s–70s, understanding apprenticeship training and the practical organisation of workshops can inform how technique has developed while the limited availability of repair materials in the post-war period meant a natural default to the use of standard, well-known household materials.

This repair ‘window’ of 1950-99 includes the pivotal moment of November 1966 and the catastrophic Florence floods with the devastating impact on the city’s art, museum and library collections. The subsequent collective salvage effort created a gear-change in book repair, heralding the emergence of book conservation and new, archival-standard repair materials, as well as an evolving ethical approach to book repair that was fully established by the turn of the century.

The gurdwara of Anandpur Sahib contains a number or weapons and personal effects that belonged to Guru Gobind Singh, some of great historical importance. They are displayed in the heart of the temple and worshipped daily by the faithful. Every evening, they are taken out by priests, shown to the public and their story is being told. For the night they are laid to rest on a bed until the morning when they are awakened again.

Over the years the steel weapons have been cleaned by traditional craftsmen. Recent damage during such a maintenance alerted the officials and professional help was sought. A long-term project was developed in collaboration with our metals conservation department and implemented in 2019. This talk presents the implications of working on extremely holy items of worship that cannot be taken out of their sanctuary. Beside technical knowhow, the project required a deeper understanding of the religious context and an adaptation to the local community, politics and the persons involved in handling and safeguarding the relics.

Caramagna Piemonte, a small town in Piedmont, Italy, with just over 3,000 residents, rediscovered its Municipal Charter, stolen in the 1970s, and returned by a citizen in the early 2000s. This initiated a decade-long collective effort, culminating in 2020 with the presentation of research and digitization of the Caramagna Charter. Fundraising and crowdfunding initiatives supported this endeavor, followed by the Charter’s conservation treatment.

The Charter, bound in full leather, had a detached cover and partially dismantled parchment signatures, with the leather sewing support in fragments. A second layer of leather, glued to the earlier cover’s spine, was also visible. The conservation goal was to reattach the book block to its cover and resew the manuscript, focusing on minimizing swelling and preserving the binding’s stratigraphy.

The manuscript’s material evidence, including different layers on the cover and structural elements revealed during disbinding, prompted reflections on ethics, conservation methods, and the archaeology of bookbinding. These discoveries offered valuable insights into the manuscript’s history and construction.

Being involved as a conservator in the public presentation and witnessing the town’s participation provided an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of cultural heritage. It emphasized the importance of public awareness and fostering a sense of belonging. The project not only preserved an important historical artifact but also strengthened community ties and highlighted the collective effort in safeguarding cultural heritage.

By addressing both the ethical concerns and the practical benefits, this presentation aims to provide a comprehensive overview of how AI can be effectively and ethically integrated into cultural heritage conservation. The insights gained from this study will be invaluable for conservationists, AI developers, policymakers, and all stakeholders involved in the preservation of our cultural legacy.

The register is a rich source of documents for life in fifteenth-century Ireland, ranging from records detailing the archbishop’s role in brokering power between the English crown and Irish lords, to personal ephemera such as his scathing satire of women’s fashion. The register also contains Swayne’s register from the Council of Constance, where the Great Schism was resolved with the election of Pope Martin V, ending the long-running European religious and political divide. The historical value of Swayne’s Register as a unique source for Irish history has long been recognised, and it was identified by medievalists from the VRTI as a key substitute for medieval episcopal records lost in the 1922 fire.

The register has only been in its current binding for the last 400 years, as previously it was kept as loose gatherings. Needle pricks visible in the paper bifolios indicate how these sections may have been stitched together as they were being written. However, in the early-seventeenth century, Archbishop James Ussher collected all the gatherings from 1360-1543 and had them bound into six registers (Swayne was the third chronologically). This was a full-calf binding with leather and alum-tawed skin sewing supports laced into pasteboards. This was a functional binding, but one which marked a transitionary moment for the register.

The conservation treatment retained as much of the original Ussher binding as possible, and documented the physical characteristics of the volume being uncovered as layers of the binding structure were being revealed. The paper folios were washed and resized with gelatine, before being consolidated with kozo paper and wheat starch paste. During the rebind, the page order of the Ussher binding was replicated and the seventeenth-century leather and pasteboards were reused, only the sewing supports were replaced.

A primary aim of the PRONI-VRTI collaboration was to provide a resource not just for subject-matter experts, but to democratise access to Swayne’s Register for the wider public. Now that the digitised images have been fully integrated into the VRTI, the Register has transitive links with the corresponding entry in a searchable, translated summary produced by D. A. Chart (PRONI’s Deputy Keeper) in 1935. The enhanced navigation features make it easier for the public and researchers to move between the whole Register, the books it contains, and its individual folios. What was recognised amongst Irish medievalists as a cultural treasure, too fragile for access, is now being highlighted through presentations, blogs and image galleries and is available in high-resolution images online.

Featuring the collaboration between PRONI and VRTI, this paper will explore the manuscript’s historical significance, as well as the decision-making process and challenges faced in assessing, conserving, digitizing and platforming Swayne’s Register.

Rebound at the turn of the 18/19 century at the bookbinding workshop of Edwards of Halifax, though it turned out beautifully and was preserved until today almost intact, it also caused significant trouble to the vellum pages and to the exhibiting options. The folios were all strained and distorted near their spines, and the book couldn’t be opened wider than 30 degrees on most of the pages. Overcast stitching ripped at the delicate vellum, causing tears and losses. While discussing the options of the future conservation it was believed that recreating the lost spines of the parchment pages and changing the sewing method to a less stressful one would result in an easier working book block. CT and micro CT scans revealed an overwhelming amount of previously inaccessible structural detail, thus permitting to plan the restoration carefully.

As of June 2024, the restoration work on the prayer book is already well advanced and will be concluded in a matter of days.