As a bookbinder one of the most interesting tasks I have been faced with is that of making facsimile books. The challenge of trying to make the paper and binding look, feel and behave as much as possible like the original can be very satisfying if achieved successfully. My first facsimile binding for the library was of the Black Book of Carmarthen and since then the Conservation Treatment Unithas made several facsimiles of the library’s most important early Welsh manuscripts.
Although time consuming, providing facsimiles of important items is a worthwhile preventive conservation measure as the copies can be used in exhibitions and for various purposes such as documentary filming when perhaps careless handling and camera lighting would harm the original.
My most recent facsimile binding was of Y Drych Cristionogawl, the first Welsh book printed on Welsh soil that I was asked to bind as a gift for the Pope during his recent visit to Britain. The Drych Cristianogawl was printed secretly and away from the eyes of Protestant Crown forces in 1586 in a cave on the Little Orme, Llandudno and the only known complete copy is housed in the library.
High quality digital images were used to print ink jet copies on thin paper and these were then adhered back to back to make gatherings of leaves. One of the most time consuming processes during the making of this facsimile was painting the edges of each leaf using acrylic paint to match the colour of the original book edge. The leaves were then sewn and bound in an identical manner to the library’s 18th century binding of the book. The volume was covered in brown calfskin with a full gilt spine and with a dark red label lettered in gold.
The binding was presented to the Pope by Bishop Edwin Regan of Wrexham during a Welsh themed service at Westminster Cathedral on September 18.Julian Thomas
Manager of Conservation Treatment Unit