From restoration to book conservation: an assessment fifty years after the Florentine flood

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Florentine flood, the paper focuses on the progression of book conservation. Over the last few decades, it changed from being a traditional restoration treatment to an interdisciplinary intervention – that needs solid historical foundation, scientific research and practical skills – aimed at slowing down the deterioration process with respect for the volumes’ historical features, their original structures and their materials. In this evolution, some events such as the St. Gallen Conference (1898) and the salvage of the burned manuscripts of the University Library in Turin (1904) were certainly important steps, but the experiences at the National central library of Florence after the overflowing of the Arno river (1966) played a strategic role.