Marbling Workshop in the Rare Books Reading Room

Research Librarian Amanda Albert shows off the beautifully marbled paper she produced at December’s Marbling Pop-Up Station.

If you missed Rare Books’ Marbling Pop-Up Station during finals week, here’s your chance to learn trough marbling and to create vibrant, Valentine-worthy decorated papers! On Thursday, February 11^th, we will be holding a marbling workshop in the Rare Books reading room (Pius XII Memorial Library Room 307) from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. In the hour-long workshop, you’ll first be introduced to traditional marbled designs such as Turkish Stone, French Snail, Fine-Combed, and Peacock. You’ll see manifestations of each pattern on the covers, endpapers, and edges of books in our eighteenth- and nineteenth-century collections, and will learn about historical trends in marbling (such as changes in pattern popularity and pigment preference). You will also learn about the techniques that marblers used to produce each pattern.

More lovely results from December’s Marbling Pop-Up Station.

Then (and this is the fun part!), you’ll be given the opportunity to create your own marbled papers. You can either mimic historical patterns or create free-form designs, and will have the time and the freedom to experiment. Ink gall, which slows the spread of the paint across the surface of the water, will be available, and you’ll be able to mix your paints to create the desired palette. Each participant will have the opportunity to create multiple sheets of marbled paper, and, by the end of the hour, to carry them away dry and ready for use.

Examples of traditional marbling patterns from our collection. These are just some of the designs that you’ll learn about — and take a stab at replicating — in our February 11th workshop. (From left to right: the placard, or drawn stone pattern; French snail paper; and a fine-combed design.)

Space constraints mean that the workshop will be limited to eight participants, and advance registration is required. So please register soon to reserve your place!

Combed paints floating on the size (thickened water) solution in a marbling trough, waiting to be adhered to paper.

If you can’t make it to this workshop, never fear – Rare Books has two more book arts-related workshops in store for you during the spring semester. In one, you’ll have the chance to learn about historical paste paper, the “poor cousin” of marbled paper, made through a much less impressive (and less finicky and expensive) process, but with a beautiful range of possible results. Another will give you the chance to create your own basic book structures.

Examples of my own marbled papers (and how I’ve used them). Make your own greeting cards, gift tags, origami, pamphlets, and more after the workshop!

In the meantime, you’re always welcome to visit the exhibit behind our book arts programming, The Binder’s Art: Techniques in the History of Decorative Bookbinding. On display in Pius 307 through the spring semester, this exhibition of rare books showcases a variety of finishing techniques used by binders from the sixteenth through the early twentieth century. While you wait for our upcoming workshops, draw inspiration from the work of artisans whose bindings not only helped to preserve the books in our collection, but turned them into works of art!