Preservation- and restauration-research of the J.P. Gumbert Collection

Title: Preservation- and restauration-research of fifteen medieval manuscripts
When: 2017
For who: Leiden University

Stichting Arts, Books and Collections co-sponsored the purchase of fifteen medieval written artifacts. The collection entails a variety of fragments from medieval manuscripts ranging from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries, as well as a leaf from an incunable.

The collection was previously owned by Johan Peter Gumbert, emeritus professor of paleography at Leiden University, who passed away in 2016.
In collaboration with a private donor, the Arts, Books and Collections Foundation not only ensured the safe-keeping of the collection, but also helped to establish a tool that will be used to educate non-experts about medieval manuscripts.
The collection will be used as the J.P. Gumbert Demonstration Collection and in that capacity further the interest in medieval manuscripts among a non-expert audience.
The medieval artifacts have already been used at middle and high schools in the city of Leiden (see photo), where workshops on medieval manuscripts have been organized by Prof. dr. F. (Erik) Kwakkel, whose tasks as Scaliger Professor at Leiden University include the promotion of manuscripts.
In 2018, when Erik Kwakkel returned to the University of British Columbia after accepting an appointment at the latter institution’s iSchool (effective 1 August 2018), Leiden University Library and Amsterdam University Library divided the collection of fragments. The collection will continue to be used as a tool to bring original medieval manuscripts closer to the public.