Magnificent: Seven Bindings from Our Collection of Greek Manuscripts

Join us for a talk by conservator and author Julia Miller about her experience describing and documenting the bindings on 100 Greek manuscripts held in the U-M Library's Special Collections Research Center. Miller will demonstrate what “magnificent” can mean with regard to the binding and repair of some of our oldest books. Her presentation will be accompanied by a display of seven exemplars from our collection of Greek manuscripts. Refreshments will be provided.

Miller is the author of the widely acclaimed Books Will Speak Plain: A Handbook for Identifying and Describing Historical Bindings, now in a revised and enlarged third edition, published by The Legacy Press in 2023. She served as editor of the nine-volume series Suave Mechanicals: Essays on the History of Bookbinding, also published by The Legacy Press. 

She also authored Tradition and Individuality: Bindings from the University of Michigan Greek Manuscript Collection, which offers detailed descriptions and lavish illustrations of the bindings on 100 Greek manuscripts dating from the fourth to the nineteenth century. This book is a companion to the extraordinary two-volume catalogue published by the University of Michigan Press.

This event is co-sponsored by Rare Book School, an independent, non-profit institute supporting the study of the history of books and printing and related subjects.