Every month we are going to feature two blogs written by volunteers, one will describe an object in the Palace and one a plant from the Garden. It is great way for us all to learn more about the Palace, if you would like to contribute there is no set format so send us your ideas!
I am a member of the library care team and can be found every Friday morning in the bishop's library along with Cerys armed with special brushes, dusters, a small vacuum cleaner and a laptop. Our job is to dust and inspect the books and log onto a database our findings. I am now familiar with the terms loose joints, detached sections, foxing and ingrained stains.
However this paragraph from a post by the British library book care team expresses very eloquently how I feel when handling these volumes.
"As conservators our first sight and handling of an object can play like a movie of its life. We experience the ageing character and material signs of use and damage known so well of leather, parchment, threads and paper. Even the smells and stains, the cuts, marks and tears of a hundred scholars thumbing the pages are brought to life as we hold it in our hands. There was mysterious cuts to the tail of many folios, which suggested a purposeful extraction. Could this have been to remove mould, mistakes or secret text? Perhaps the parchment was stolen for love notes by a fifteenth century student?"
Our library is a little more mundane and so far no love notes! The library is eclectic and some volumes ascribable to a certain bishop or family members. Some have bindings and end papers to die for and sadly some have no signs at all of one yet alone hundreds of scholars thumbing the pages.
The Fulham Palace Library
The greatest joy is finding graffiti, names, bookplates, inscriptions, annotations which have you reaching back in time. The faintest trace of candle wax on a cover, a volume read by candlelight, schoolboy jottings of latin homework etc. The discovery of a vast range of items used as a book mark from poignant letters, christmas and birthday cards, leaflets to exhibitions. In one very academic religious text book a photograph of a pig.
I sometimes think Miranda must despair at the rate of progress. As much time is spent just enjoying these volumes and the wistful hope that one Friday she would say no cleaning today just read the books then I would pick out a volume with wonderful binding and end papers interesting content and leave it a love note.
Jennifer Osborne - library care team volunteer
Please send your ideas for blogs to commsvolunteer@fulhampalace.org If you would like some help, let us know.