LATEST NEWS...
Successful Project Funding Bid from Arts Council England (ACE) & Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF)!
I am hugely proud to accept the support of the ACE HLF Project Fund for Dickens Fellowship Archive Project – Enabling Access for the Future
This project is for the first phase of funding conservation and cataloguing of the scrapbook collections which are fundamental to the Charles Dickens Museum. It will allow this previous unsearchable, and hugely significant collection to be available to scholars and enthusiasts around the world, via the online catalogue, in good time for the Museum’s centenary celebrations in 2025. The 97 volumes of Fellowship Scrapbooks date from 1905 to 1997 and contain newspaper cuttings on any Dickens-related topic, from national publications to provincial papers. They contain primary materials including advertisements for theatrical performances, newspaper cuttings (mainly British papers, with some American articles), photographs and paper ephemera and were compiled by members of the Dickens Fellowship who founded the museum. Work is about to start and I will be posting regular updates here and on social media.
This project is for the first phase of funding conservation and cataloguing of the scrapbook collections which are fundamental to the Charles Dickens Museum. It will allow this previous unsearchable, and hugely significant collection to be available to scholars and enthusiasts around the world, via the online catalogue, in good time for the Museum’s centenary celebrations in 2025. The 97 volumes of Fellowship Scrapbooks date from 1905 to 1997 and contain newspaper cuttings on any Dickens-related topic, from national publications to provincial papers. They contain primary materials including advertisements for theatrical performances, newspaper cuttings (mainly British papers, with some American articles), photographs and paper ephemera and were compiled by members of the Dickens Fellowship who founded the museum. Work is about to start and I will be posting regular updates here and on social media.
Soon to be Announced: Online Limp Binding Workshop...
Following on from the success of my parchment workshop at the end of last year, I am now preparing to run another online workshop. It is going to be another practical workshop making a limp paper binding based on the work of the late Chris Clarkson and his work to promote conservation binding techniques. It promises to be really interesting, especially for those who are keen to make a beautiful, well-constructed binding and discuss the ethical issues around using the techniques on collection items.
This is being organised by ICRI - the Institute of Conservator-Restorers in Ireland who will be managing ticket sales. https://www.icriconservation.ie/about-us
I will post booking information as soon as it is available, thank you very much to Julia and all of the ICRI team for their encouragement and support.
This is being organised by ICRI - the Institute of Conservator-Restorers in Ireland who will be managing ticket sales. https://www.icriconservation.ie/about-us
I will post booking information as soon as it is available, thank you very much to Julia and all of the ICRI team for their encouragement and support.
Exciting New Collaboration - Conservation Training for Auction Houses & Book Dealers
It is always a pleasure to work with other conservators and over the last few months I have been working on a couple of projects with Suzanne Press ACR (www.suzannepress.com/) an experienced conservator of works of Art on paper, also based in London. One of these has resulted in our collaboration to reach out to auction houses and book dealers in and around London to offer conservation training on handling, assessment and how to offer and access advice for clients. We have now provided training to the teams at Bonham's and Sotheby's, which has been incredibly interesting. The teams work with a huge books from all periods and cultures, with all kinds of damage from minor tears, and old insect damage to full-on obliteration of bindings due to fire. We are keen to extend this training opportunity as valuable knowledge for our allied professions.
Here is a link to the leaflet that we have created about the training: sp_cc.pdf
Please feel free to contact either of us to find out more, either via the information provided on the leaflet or this website.
Here is a link to the leaflet that we have created about the training: sp_cc.pdf
Please feel free to contact either of us to find out more, either via the information provided on the leaflet or this website.
Evening Class from January @City Lit for 12 weeks - cancelled due to Covid-19 Lockdown
Unfortunately, although I was very excited to be teaching an evening class at London's City Lit in book conservation for beginners it was inevitably cancelled during the nationwide lockdown.
City Lit are running a variety of other courses on bookbinding and book arts starting in April, follow this link for more information:
https://www.citylit.ac.uk/search/go?p=Q&ts=custom&w=bookbinding&pw=bookbinidng&rt=spelling&isort=score&view=list
Spaces are limited due to Covid restrictions.
City Lit are running a variety of other courses on bookbinding and book arts starting in April, follow this link for more information:
https://www.citylit.ac.uk/search/go?p=Q&ts=custom&w=bookbinding&pw=bookbinidng&rt=spelling&isort=score&view=list
Spaces are limited due to Covid restrictions.
Virtual Open Studio - Now Live via ICon Accreditation Website
I am very proud to have my virtual open studio featured as part of the 20th Anniversary of the Institute of Conservation Accreditation Scheme. I went through the application process in 2006 and since achieving accreditation in 2007 have been a mentor for conservators from a variety of conservation disciplines including textile conservators and preservation managers. It is a hallmark of quality in terms of practical work, ethics, judgement and decision-making, similar to charter-ship in other professions. Here is a link to the Icon website which also features incredible conservators from other disciplines and their work.
https://icon.org.uk/accreditation/20th-anniversary-of-icon-accreditation/virtual-open-studios
https://icon.org.uk/accreditation/20th-anniversary-of-icon-accreditation/virtual-open-studios
Incredible Review of Online Lecture on Parchment Bindings
Thank you very much to Ruth Stevens ACR who reviewed my recent online lecture for "Conservation Today" the Archives and Records Association Preservation & Conservation Section Newsletter. I couldn't be more proud...
"Ann-Marie Miller started the series of lectures with the conservation of four volumes of Wine Accounts from Middle Temple Archive, guiding us expertly through research, assessment, and evaluation prior to the actual fascinating process of treatment. It is such a privilege to witness the mindset required to treat this type of material – to understand why we treat, and the balanced approach needed to make the right decisions for individual volumes. Ann-Marie had to deal with mould damage, iron gall ink and parchment loss, and was able to explain the logic behind every decision with clarity of purpose and conviction, as well as share some innovative repair techniques."
The link to my presentation is below and we are currently working on the written transcripts of all of the sessions, including the fascinating panel discussion, where each of the speakers compared notes, techniques, materials and approaches. Watch this space for a link when it is available.
"Ann-Marie Miller started the series of lectures with the conservation of four volumes of Wine Accounts from Middle Temple Archive, guiding us expertly through research, assessment, and evaluation prior to the actual fascinating process of treatment. It is such a privilege to witness the mindset required to treat this type of material – to understand why we treat, and the balanced approach needed to make the right decisions for individual volumes. Ann-Marie had to deal with mould damage, iron gall ink and parchment loss, and was able to explain the logic behind every decision with clarity of purpose and conviction, as well as share some innovative repair techniques."
The link to my presentation is below and we are currently working on the written transcripts of all of the sessions, including the fascinating panel discussion, where each of the speakers compared notes, techniques, materials and approaches. Watch this space for a link when it is available.
Parchment Bindings Lecture - Available Online
I have also given a lecture on the conservation of 4 parchment stationery bindings as part of the virtual training programme for the Archives & Records Association. I was in great company in this lecture series and the talks by Victoria Stevens and Katherine Beaty are a must for all those obsessed by parchment stationery bindings like me!
Here is the link to the video of my conservation of parchment stationery bindings video:
https://play.webvideocore.net/popapp.php?l=324413&w=720&h=800&p=4GE35AGFE12D4C4&title=Make%2C+Mend+%26+Do%E2%80%A6The+Conservation+of+4+Eighteenth-Century+Parchment+Stationery+Bindings&bgcolor1=%23ffffff&bgcolor2=%23e0e0e0&hide_playlist=&hide_description=&hide_live_chat=1&layout=default&is_inversed=&theme=light&image=https%3A%2F%2Fmember.streamingvideoprovider.com%2Fpanel%2Fserver%2Fclip%3Fa%3DGenerateThumbnail%26clip_id%3D0%26size%3Dlarge%26playlist_id%3D324413%26is_playlist%3D1%26segmentName%3Dsingle&use_html5=1&live_id=&sel_playlist=1g2ab52ge47574c&sel_multiplaylist=&is_responsive=1&is_vertical=&one_thumb_per_row=1&thumbs_size=medium&disable_hash=1&skinAlpha=50&colorBase=%23250864&colorIcon=&colorHighlight=%237f54f8&fs_popin=&start_volume=&close_button=&player_align=NONE&player_bar=1&auto_play=&auto_hide_player_controls=1&chat_position=&description_position=&playlist_position=&allow_fullscreen=1&player_start_volume=&widget_height_behavior=0&template_published_fields=-1&play_button=1&play_button_style=pulsing
Here is the link to the video of my conservation of parchment stationery bindings video:
https://play.webvideocore.net/popapp.php?l=324413&w=720&h=800&p=4GE35AGFE12D4C4&title=Make%2C+Mend+%26+Do%E2%80%A6The+Conservation+of+4+Eighteenth-Century+Parchment+Stationery+Bindings&bgcolor1=%23ffffff&bgcolor2=%23e0e0e0&hide_playlist=&hide_description=&hide_live_chat=1&layout=default&is_inversed=&theme=light&image=https%3A%2F%2Fmember.streamingvideoprovider.com%2Fpanel%2Fserver%2Fclip%3Fa%3DGenerateThumbnail%26clip_id%3D0%26size%3Dlarge%26playlist_id%3D324413%26is_playlist%3D1%26segmentName%3Dsingle&use_html5=1&live_id=&sel_playlist=1g2ab52ge47574c&sel_multiplaylist=&is_responsive=1&is_vertical=&one_thumb_per_row=1&thumbs_size=medium&disable_hash=1&skinAlpha=50&colorBase=%23250864&colorIcon=&colorHighlight=%237f54f8&fs_popin=&start_volume=&close_button=&player_align=NONE&player_bar=1&auto_play=&auto_hide_player_controls=1&chat_position=&description_position=&playlist_position=&allow_fullscreen=1&player_start_volume=&widget_height_behavior=0&template_published_fields=-1&play_button=1&play_button_style=pulsing
To accompany my publications and work on the Conservation of Parchment Bindings I have compiled a downloadable bibliography.
| stationery_binding_1500-1800_july_20.pdf |
Making conservation more accessible online - using video footage to demonstrate conservation work in action!
The above video was produced during the conservation of the Beadnell Album for the Dickens Museum in London. The repairs were part of a programme of work which was made possible by the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust. It demonstrates the complexity of the repairs to return the pop-up elements to working order, whilst trying to keep as much of the original structure as possible. It was also an excellent opportunity to promote conservation work in action.
