Lichtgedanken 02

S C HW E R P U N K T 26 hesion again as well as the freshly stiched headband. All this has been created manually using the same tools and techniques as in Luther’s time. The restoration log beside her records every single step of the process that has restored the book in its yellowed con- dition with holes and mould spots to its former splendour in the last few days. The aim of restoring books, however, is not to re-establish as perfect an appearance as possible. »The books are to be restored to their original condition as far as possible,« Susanne Kull says. And for that reason, the weighty hymnbook is still to undergo a further restora- tion step. The original leather used for the binding is glued onto the new binding – irrespective of any damaged areas on the edges or the spine. »We try to stabilize such areas,« says the restorer who has been looking after the books of the ThULB for more than 25 years. Finally, the two clasps and the labels on the spine are reattached, and the book goes back to the special storeroom. Kull’s colleague Annett Blumenthal is also working on a book from the time of the Reformation. She sits hunched over a stack of loose leaves lying on her desk. Right at the top is the title page with a likeness of Luther. »But we have our work cut out here,« she says, talking about the dama- ge to the almost 500-year-old, thick, yellowish paper. »The edges are frayed, and in some cases the holes in the signa- tures are so large that the binding was no longer holding.« Dark grey mould stains are appearing around the image of the reformer. The brittle pages come from an anthology of Luther’s ser- mons containing a total of 17 individual pamphlets. I am now familiar with the common practice in Reformation times of having various texts bound to form a separate book. Whoever did this with Luther’s sermons, we are no longer able to view the original binding from the 16th cen- tury. »It has not survived,« says Workshop Manager Frank Schieferdecker regretfully, looking at the very unattractive grey library soft cover in which the printed matter from 1523 has so far been kept. »The binding was probably changed around 1900,« Schieferdecker estimates. That was