UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State University Libraries’ 2023 William D. Minter Lectureship in Conservation will feature guest speaker J. Franklin (Frank) Mowery, book and paper conservator, on April 27.
The fourth annual event will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 27, in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, on Penn State’s University Park campus and online via Zoom.
“For more than 40 years, Frank has been a friend, a colleague and an outstanding conservator. Frank was chosen this year for his innovations in paper conservation that solve the most challenging treatment problems,” said Bill (William) Minter, senior book conservator in the University Libraries’ Preservation, Conservation and Digitization Department and its Conservation Centre and namesake of the annual lecture.
Mowery, a master binder/conservator who trained for six years in Europe, was the Eric Weinmann Head of Conservation at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., from 1979 to 2011 and retired in 2013 as a rare binding specialist. He is an international educator, having taught advanced conservation courses in Switzerland, China, Vietnam, Ukraine, Korea, Japan, the United States and other venues. He has been an innovator in conservation treatment techniques, having developed and perfected numerous techniques currently in use in paper conservation.
Also a fellow of the International Institute for Conservation and a professional associate in the American Institute for Conservation, Mowery maintains a private practice in Venice, Florida, of the conservation of rare books, manuscripts and works of art on paper. His clients include galleries, museums, libraries, dealers and private collectors in the United States and abroad. Mowery’s conservation studio specializes in particularly difficult damaged objects, such as tape stains, paper losses and vellum documents. The studio is equipped with all the most sophisticated pieces of equipment and utilizes the latest techniques in the treatment of the artifacts.
The William D. Minter Lectureship in Conservation was established in 2019 to raise awareness and advance the knowledge of book and special collection conservation history, theory and practice among members of the Penn State community and central Pennsylvania residents, as well as conservators and bookbinders. The annual lectureship hosts distinguished national and international researchers, scholars, practitioners and prominent library conservators as invited speakers.
The Conservation Centre is a part of the University Libraries’ Preservation, Conservation and Digitization Department, which is responsible for the preservation of the University Libraries’ collections in all formats including paper-based books, works of art on paper, photographs, maps, media and digital files.
Contact Sue Kellerman, Judith O. Sieg Chair for Preservation and head of Penn State University Libraries' Preservation, Conservation and Digitization Department, at lsk3@psu.edu or 814-863-4696 with any questions.