Iowa Bibliophiles "Waste Not, Want Not: Exploring the Binder's Waste of the John Martin Rare Book Room"

Bookbinders during the hand press era were ahead of their time with their recycling practices. Nothing went to waste if it could be avoided. This included using damaged, discarded, unsold, substandard, or test leaves from manuscripts and printed books as part of the binding for other books. Some waste is easy to find, such as beautiful manuscript leaves used as a book cover, but much of it is buried inside the binding. Join curator Damien Ihrig for his presentation on a "thousand tiny archeological digs" for an ongoing project to locate, identify, and describe binder's waste in the John Martin Rare Book Room collection at the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences.

This event is free and open to the public. It will be held on the 3rd floor of the Main Library, doors opening at 6:30 p.m. For all questions, please contact Elizabeth Riordan at elizabeth-riordan@uiowa.edu.