Programa Ofícios e Artesãos da Ornamentação e Encadernação do Livro
Organic Unit: FCSH
Research Center: IELT - Instituto de Estudos de Literatura e Tradição da Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Organic Unit: FCSH
Research Center: IELT - Instituto de Estudos de Literatura e Tradição da Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Historical research programme that focuses on the technical procedures of book binding and ornamentation, as well as on the identification of the workshops and craftsmen who historically dedicated and exercised the craft in Lisbon and of those who still do, with the purpose of creating a digital audiovisual collection of the book artisanal production phenomenon in this city.
Following a partnership established between IELT and the Lisbon City Council through the Municipal Archive, this programme aims to record and document, in an audiovisual and in a digital format, the technical procedures of artisanal book printing in Lisbon, as well as its relations with the same activity in other geographies, creating a sensorial memory of the book as a collection object and as tactile and olfactory matter.
Among the initiatives already carried out, is the production and premiere of the documentary Mãos que costuram e vestem Livros (shown at Lisboa 5L, International Literature and Portuguese Language Festival, Férin Bookshop, May 7, 2021).
With a view to its purpose and calling upon the formats abovementioned, the programme inventories the trades associated with the material production of books, namely the arts of bookbinding and gilding, specifying
a) the places in the urban geography of Lisbon where bookbinding and gilding workshops existed;
b) existing manufacturing establishments;
c) the diverse ways of working;
d) the technical and common vocabulary employed;
e) narratives and life stories (entry into the profession, careers, etc.) of publishers, booksellers, auctioneers, librarians, artists and other agents who bridge the metaphysical, aesthetic and ethical dimension of the book.
