On November 12th, 2024, Nicholas Herman and Barbara Williams Ellertson gave a talk at Duke University about the use of images in BASIRA as evidence of historic bookbinding practices.

Duke University’s Franklin Humanities Institute and Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library co-sponsored this event.

Members of the Triangle Book Arts group, who are chiefly involved with such contemporary book-making practices as papermaking, zinemaking, printmaking, and hand binding, had posed questions about historic techniques that initially led to the idea to hold such a presentation. Over fifty librarians, conservators, curators, and other interested members of the community were in attendance, resulting in some lively conversations. Rubenstein Library staff generously set up an exhibit of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century books for the afternoon event: these items provided physical evidence for some of the terms explained during the talk, such as “squares” and “throw up.” The exhibit also demonstrated the accuracy of many artistic representations of medieval and early modern books.