As for all the volumes of the “La Biblioteca Impossibile” series, facsimile reproduction of the Lezionario Farnese is achieved by means of the most sophisticated technological resources, for image processing, and also by means of markedly traditional handcrafting techniques, in order to conserve the special ‘magic of the past’ that we find in the original.
For the work’s ‘hard copy’, the publishing house selected a special paper which perfectly reproduces the effect and texture of parchment. The paper selected provides as faithful a facsimile as possible of the original in general in terms of its colour, and tactile and material characteristics, while also ensuring strength and durability, thus enabling frequent and prolonged use (i.e. without the particular concern we would have when handling an antique object). To ensure optimal safeguarding of the original work, arrangements were made for specially air-conditioned darkened studio space with special lighting in which to photograph the book using the cameras, plates and lenses considered most appropriate for this codex.
The photographic plates were then handed over to technicians for electronic colour break-up, the colours then being‘re-assembled’ for printing. The nuances and toning, and even the fingerprints left by readers over hundreds of years were all left ‘as is’ – nothing was left out, the aim being that the matrices, with their infinite degrees of colour and chiaroscuro work, perfectly render the creative energy and painterly qualities of the renowned artists responsible for the codex’s splendid illumination work.
Particular care was taken over the areas treated with gold powder. As part of the painstaking efforts required to produce these facsimiles, the embellishments constitute a particularly tough challenge for the chromolithographer (who must constantly go back to the original manuscript to verify with great precision the various backgrounds), and also for the printer. Illuminators used to apply the gold powder with a paintbrush, thus obtaining a specific ‘raised’ effect. Here, the technique of screen printing with special inks is used, combined with the use of special embossing or letterpress machines for a further step that confers upon the embellishments a raised effect, and tactile consistency.
A further stage is reproduction of the binding, this example most surely representing one of the most elaborate products of early nineteenth-century English craftsmanship. In this reproduction, the two fields of fine arts and craftsmanship come together seamlessly. The work is carried out entirely by hand and is preceded by in-depth study of all the components of the cover: the red silk velvet, the gilded silver ferrules and clasps, and the centrally positioned porcelain Towneley coats of arms. The expert binder gathers together these many components for final assembly, and seeks to provide a fitting tribute to the painstaking care and attention that went into the original.
Before the final stages, in New York, this “prince” of manuscripts, the Lezionario Farnese, was checked and re-checked, again and again, by the publishing house’s most highly qualified experts, external consultants and library officials.
