The Bookbindings Working Group (BWG) brings together researchers, librarians, conservators, and heritage professionals interested in the study, description, and preservation of bookbindings.
The group aims to foster collaboration between bookbinding projects, promote the development and use of shared standards, and improve access to information about bookbindings. By connecting projects across Europe and beyond, BWG supports knowledge exchange and explores how CERL can contribute to advancing research, cataloguing practices, and digital resources related to bookbindings.
CERL wishes to foster collaboration between bookbinding projects and encourage the use of shared standards. The Working Group supports the development of a common access point for information on bookbindings and explores how CERL can contribute to this goal.
It also:
- Bring together information about bookbinding projects in Europe and beyond, and liaise with them
- Inform bookbindings projects about CERL’s work
- Review how CERL can support and contribute to these projects
- Promote standards for both simple and advanced descriptions of bookbindings to support libraries publishing digital images and catalogue records
Chair: Fabienne Le Bars, Bibliothèque nationale de France
- Alberto Campagnolo, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
- Marianna Czapnik, University Library, Warsaw
- Eliana Dal Sasso, University of Hamburg
- Silvia Faccin, Fondazione Museo del Tesoro del Duomo e Archivio Capitolare, Vercelli
- Anna Gialdini, Bruno Kessler Foundation Library, Trento
- Elizabeth Quarmby Lawrence, University of Edinburgh Library
- Andrew Honey, Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
- Adam Larsson, Uppsala University Library
- Marian Lefferts, CERL Executive Manager
- Timoty Leonardi, Fondazione Biblioteca Capitolare, Verona
- Karen Limper-Herz, British Library, London and AEB representative
- Philippa Marks, The British Library, London
- Kristine Rose-Beers, Cambridge University Library
- Alessandro Sidoti, National Library of Florence
- Bettina Wagner, Staatsbibliothek, Bamberg
- Lieve Watteeuw, researcher at the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven
- Advisory: Per Cullhed, formerly of the Universitetsbiblioteket, Uppsala
- Nicholas Pickwoad, Ligatus, London
Connecting the CERL Community
CERL organises the online Bookbindings Academy in collaboration with the Belgian-Dutch Bookbindings Society (Belgisch-Nederlands Boekbandengenootschap). This annual, free online event provides an international platform for presenting new research and highlighting significant projects. The Academy encourages knowledge sharing and strengthens opportunities for international collaboration in bookbinding research.
Resources
This section gathers selected resources supporting research, terminology, and project discovery related to bookbindings. Links are organised by type to help users locate relevant tools and initiatives.
Events
Contact information
For more information about the Bookbindings Working Group, please contact the Chair: Fabienne Le Bars, Bibliothèque nationale de France.