ShopThe Latest at Pergamena
A Visit to the Guild
October, 2010
This October 14-16, we'll be attending the Guild of Book Worker's Standards of Excellence seminar in Tucson, AZ. Bringing our full line of bookbinding and calligraphy leather and parchment, we'll be glad to meet and talk with attendees and vendors alike. The Standards is something we at Pergamena and Meyer & Sons look forward to each year, and we hope this show will be another chance to rub elbows with friends and make the most of the United States' bookbinding community coming together in one place.
Waterford Craft Fair
October, 2010
Returning by popular demand, Pergamena will be attending the 2010 Waterford Craft Fair in Waterford, VA, October 1-3. This year, we'll be bringing new handmade items to the show, along with our traditional demonstration of parchment-making. So come pay us a visit at our booth, or just experience the tradition and craftsmanship of early America that Waterford has come to represent.
Trade Shows in July
July, 2010
This July, we'll be stopping by two different trade shows in New England. The weekend of the 16th, we'll be in Machius, Maine, at the Paper and Book Intensive to give a demonstration on parchment making and offer some of our materials. And the following weekend of the 24th, we'll be in Easton, Massachusetts at the Odyssey Calligraphy Conference with parchment for sale. Anyone attending the shows is welcome to come talk to us.
We've Met Before. . .
February 16, 2010
We at Pergamena and Richard E. Meyer and Sons want to extend our deepest thanks to Mindy Dubansky for inviting us to show our wares at the Book Conservators of New York City meeting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We'd also like to thank Yana van Dyke for her presentation on the conservation of palm-leaf manuscripts that we found immensely interesting, and all the participants who were able to attend the talk and our show-and-tell afterwards. Since it was only one of the first few times we had been able to visit the Met, having the chance to enter and exit through the employee entrance and see what the museum looked like behind the scenes was a great experience for all of us Meyers who attended. For more information on the palm leaf exhibit, visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art's website.
Bringing back the Craft.
January 2010
As a bit of housekeeping, we here at Pergamena have decided to sort through and inventory the collection of leathers that our family has accumulated over the last several decades. While most of the different types we unearthed are out-of-production or outmoded leathers, we still think it would be a shame to throw them out or let them continue to sit around our tannery. So, we have decided to make them available as craft resources on the our Pergamena Etsy site. If you have been looking for interesting and unique leathers to mess around with, check out what we currently have available.
January 22nd and 23rd Workshop.
January 2010
We had another productive workshop at the end of January, with five participants from across the country coming to take part in the parchment process. Thanks to everyone who attended and made this an enjoyable weekend for everyone here at Pergamena.
October 16th and 17th Workshop.
We had a great workshop at the beginning of October arranged by the New York Chapter Guild of Bookworkers. 12 people came and learned the ins and outs of parchment making and got an education about our vegetable tanned leather as well. We had attendees from the Library of Congress, the Bronx Botanical Gardens, and Columbia University, among others. Thanks to all who visited! We are planning another one the third week of January for any interested parties.
Pushing the Envelope. . .
October 2009
Pergamena has a few new unique and beautiful leather and parchment envelopes that we have just rolled out. We are now offering calfskin leather dyed in an assortment of colors with a buttery finish and lined with a range of Japanese and marbled papers with rustic leather tie and wood or metal button closures. They make great gifts for presentations or very special events. We also have another parchment envelope offering, our transparent calfskin, scribed and sewn with parchment lace and bone buttons. It is a readymade piece of art and no two are alike. Visit our store to get good look and keep your eyes out for our upcoming Holiday product offerings...
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
October 2009
Pergamena recently returned from the Waterford Fair in Waterford Virginia. It is an artisan exhibition showcasing some of the most skilled Colonial to Civil War period craftspeople in the country, ranging from glassblowers, and silversmiths, to weavers and furnituremakers. Naturally, a tanner and parchment maker would fill out the field nicely! We were fortunate to attend as exhibitors. Ellen, Jesse, and Stephen were there demonstrating and selling Pergamena wares for 3 days in the rural and beautifully idyllic Virginia countryside. Not only was it a great show and opportunity to further introduce ourselves to the public, but the village directors had the foresight to put our booth on the site of the original village tannery, right in the village green! We brought some appropriate items to offer, especially our new parchment printed version of the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution, along with our initial Declaration Of Independence offerings. Check out WaterfordFoundation.org for more info and we hope to see you there next October!
A visit to the Pen and Parchment exhibit at the Met.
August 2009
So, Jesse went to the Pen and Parchment show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. 3 rooms full of astounding looking works, all done on parchment. The art ran from drawings of saints and miracles being performed, and mystical drawings of the body, to genealogical trees and architectural renderings of cathedrals. Jesse was also fortunate to run into his old friend Karen Gorst at the show. Both of them were there to soak up some artistic mastery, and as an added benefit, got to talk some shop. For more information on Karen and numerous other calligraphers and illuminators visit The Society Of Scribes at:
Pergamena to attend Society of Binders Conference in England August 20th - 23rd.
August 2009
The Pergamena folks will be making their 1st trade fair trip across the pond this year to participate in the Society of Bookbinders (S.O.B) Education and Training Conference this August 20th through the 23rd at the University of Warwick at Coventry. This prestigious and long running event takes place every other year and this marks the 17th incarnation. Many well known book arts vendors, experts, and practitioners from across Europe and elsewhere will be in attendance and we look forward to bringing our parchments. leathers and other wares to introduce to the community of artisans and book artists throughout Europe. For more information, you can visit the Society of Bookbinders website at:
Parchment, vellum, and drawing In the Middle Ages
July 2009
Parchment was long ago replaced by paper as the preferred surface for writer and artist alike. During the Middle Ages, parchment was used for manuscripts and book production, but examples of pure, unaccompanied drawings are very rare. The Metropolitan Museum Of Art in New York City has gone a long way towards correcting this oversight with their new special exhibition: Pen And Parchment: Drawing In The Middle Ages.
The Met has assembled 50 works of amazing breadth, from masterful figure drawings to expert architectural renderings of cathedrals in perfect perspective (predating the Renaissance examples of perspective drawings by several hundred years). The exhibition is on view from June 2nd through August 23rd. Be sure to check out these historical but imaginative examples of work done on parchment:
The Codex Sinaiticus: The World's Oldest and Most Complete Bible
July 2009
Recently, one of the world's oldest and most complete bibles was reunited. A difficult feat considering the book is in 4 parts spread across 2 continents! How is this possible? Through modern technology, the Codex Sinaiticus was reunited virtually, an important milestone in the study of historic manuscripts. The original was written entirely on parchment during the 4th Century and revealed to the Western world in the 1850's by German Biblical Scholar Constantin Von Tischendorf, a 19th Century version of Indiana Jones. It was discovered at St. Catherine's Monastery on the Sinai Peninsula, and is now split between St. Catherine's, the National Library in St. Petersburg Russia, The British Library in England, and the Library of the University of Leipzig, Germany. Written in Greek, complete with annotations, it shows a fascinating snapshot of the development of the modern bible and provides a valuable window into an important time in the history of Christianity. For more information, visit:
Pergamena Mentioned In Latest Issue Of Interior Design Magazine
June 2009
Pergamena is proud to have contributed several pieces of our work to the the newest addition of Shanghai China's city skyline. Currently the world's tallest hotel, the Park Hyatt Shanghai occupies the 79th through the 93rd floors of the Shanghai World Financial Center with supreme views of the surrounding city. Our goatskin parchment panels were employed in the courtyard entryway. Measuring 44 feet tall by 7 feet wide and consisting of 168 panels of varying character and color, our panels comprise a stunning mosaic installation greeting visitors as they enter the hotel. Our work was also featured on various other pieces throughout the hotel, such as the concierge desk (pictured), cashiers tables, and service tables. Our thanks to Tony Chi And Associates for asking us to come on board for this project. We look forward to doing more work with them in the future.
Dirty Jobs Redux
April 2009
That's right: another Dirty Jobs episode. Apparently, they liked us so much (and there were so many more dirty things to do here) that they couldn't cover it all in one episode. Filming took place in September 2008 and has already aired repeatedly in 2009. Mike Rowe and his crew came back to see us at Pergamena to learn about how we make parchment. Again, they got filthy with us, but were really good sports about it. Mike even wore our T-shirt for the camera.
New Bookbinding Leathers
October 2008
Finally, in keeping with our parchment offerings to the bookbinding community, we have developed (and are now producing) vegetable-tanned goat and calf binding leather. With the help of feedback from bookbinders and conservators, we have formulated an archival pyrogallol chestnut-tanned goatskin in a range of colors as well as undyed calfskin for conservation purposes split to .1 or .6 mm. thickness. We hope to be able to better cater to the North American vegetable-tanned leather market with these domestically produced and inexpensive leathers. Price discounts are available for purchases of three or more skins. We have had tremendous feedback regarding these leathers so far and we will officially roll these out this October at the 2008 Guild of Bookworkers Standards of Excellence trade show and seminar in Toronto, Ontario, running October 16 through 18.
Cut and Sized Parchment Pieces
October 2008
We are now offering cut sizes of goat, sheep, and calf parchment. This is a more economical option and a great help to those looking for smaller pieces (and who may not be in the market for an entire skin) such as calligraphers, hobbyists, and maybe even those involved in educational projects. This is in addition to the scrap parchment that we offer at $25.00/lb. and, of course, our whole skins.