When Cover Paper Meets Parchment: A Non-adhesive Variation of the Limp Parchment Binding

Abstract

ABSTRACT Thanks to Christopher Clarkson’s pioneering work on limp parchment binding, this structure has become an object of study in the international community of book conservators. An Italian late-sixteenth-century variation is presented here, found in a consistent number of volumes ascribed to the same hand from the same Renaissance private library, now preserved in the Marciana National Library (Venice, Italy). The binding combines the qualities of parchment and those of cover paper, a strong yet flexible material that is inserted in the endleaf area and considerably reinforces the text block/cover attachment. This study discusses the binding’s manufacturing details, its innovative and refined structure, its non-adhesive features and tested durability, and its potential as a present-day conservation binding model.