On Wednesday 4 May Gunnar Örn Hannesson, historian and archivist at the National Archives of Iceland, will give the talk “On watermarks in some Icelandic paper letters from the 17th century” in the lecture series Íslensk bóksaga (Icelandic Book History), held in the lecture hall of Þjóðarbókhlaða, the library building at Arngrímsgata 3, 12:05–12:45.
The abstract of the talk says:
“The oldest watermarks known are thought to date from the second half of the 13th century. The discipline that studies watermarks is called filigranology, and it is much younger. The history of watermarks is intertwined with the history of paper and papermaking. The talk will discuss the value of watermarks and how they can be used in research on documents and paper. It will also discuss the limits that the watermarks themselves set on the discipline. Finally, some watermarks found in the pages of an Icelandic letter book from the 17th century will be examined.”
Everyone welcome