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Max J. Adjarian collection

 Collection
Identifier: MS-324

Collection Scope and Contents

Max J. Adjarian was a Master Bookbinder and restorer, trained in Paris, who worked primarily in the United States during his 50+ year career. This collection is comprised of some of the tools, supplies and materials that he used in his craft. The contents of the collection include hand-tools, such as: compositors, burnishing wheels, gilding tools, cutting tools, layout and design tools, and more. There are also typesets, book boards, leather, vellum, marbled endpaper, paper scraps from prior disbinding/rebinding projects, bookplates, gold leaf, and other supplies and materials used in book binding. Several pieces of bindery equipment and presses were also donated as part of the collection (these larger pieces are not readily accessible for viewing).

Dates

  • Creation: circa 1500-1999

Creator

Languages

The collection includes a number of languages including English, French, and Latin.

Access

This collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright Unknown: Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction, and/or commercial use, of some materials may be restricted by gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing agreement(s), and/or trademark rights. Distribution or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. To the extent other restrictions apply, permission for distribution or reproduction from the applicable rights holder is also required. Responsibility for obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Biographical Note

Max J. Adjarian was a Master Bookbinder specializing in conservation, preservation, and restoration of rare books, manuscripts, codices, incunabula, and gilding during a well-travelled career spanning more than 50 years. He was born in 1929 in Paris, France, where he spent his early years and survived the Great Depression and Nazi occupation during WWII. After the war, he served as a paratrooper in French colonial North Africa in 1948. Max applied to and was selected for a highly competitive position at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF), in 1949 after his military service was completed, where he was trained as a Master Bookbinder. He spent several years working at the BNF as a restorer of rare books before venturing off to spend the rest of his life working as an independent bookbinder, contracting and consulting with a wide range of institutions and private individuals. Max was invited to work with the Board of Trustees at Cornell University Library to restore the rare books in their collections as well as advise on acquisitions, conservation, and preservation. He spent four years at Cornell before being invited to Kansas University in 1955 by their chancellor, Dr. Franklin Murphy, to restore and conserve their rare books, codices, maps, and manuscripts. In 1960, Dr. Murphy was appointed the chancellor of UCLA and quickly invited Max to accompany him to California. In addition to working extensively with UCLA, Max would work with a number of other academic institutions, locally, across the country, and internationally. His clients included the University of Southern California, The Huntington Library, Boston Historical Society, Emory University, and many more. Mr. Adjarian’s artistic legacy spanned the restoration of various bibliophilic treasures: the Gutenberg Bible; Audubon’s Book of American Birds; the 1495/1619 editions of Aristotle’s Opera Omnia [by Venetian typographer Aldus Manutius]; Aldine rare books printed between 1495-1550 [from UCLA’s Ahmanson-Murphy Aldine Collection]; creating slipcases to preserve first edition Victorian fiction from the UCLA Michael T. Sadleir Collection; plus notable restoration projects for the William Andrews Clarke Memorial Library; the UCLA Dr. Louise M. Darling Biomedical, and Dr. Elmer Belt Vinciana Collections. Adjarian was also sought out for his expertise to work on privately held items and collections. Max relocated to Tucson, AZ in the mid-1990s where he continued operating his bindery and completing client projects until his death in 2002.

This biographical note was written in collaboration with Fred Adjarian in 2023.

Extent

63.27 Linear Feet (49 boxes and 20 items)

Abstract

This collection contains book binding tools and supplies, press equipment, and some business documents collected and used by Max J. Adjarian, a Master Bookbinder and restorer.

Arrangement

The Max J. Adjarian collection is arranged into 4 series, as outlined below. The bulk of the items in Series 1 and 2 are housed in small boxes that are then collected in larger, numbered boxes.

  1. Series 1. Tools
  2. Series 2. Supplies & Materials
  3. Series 3. Bindery Equipment
  4. Series 4. Bindery Documents

Acquisition Information

Gift of Frederick and Catherine Adjarian, 2008.

Tool identifications

A number of tool and equipment identifications, along with their uses, were done in consultation with Fred Adjarian, son of Max J. Adjarian and one of the donors of the collection.

Title
Max J. Adjarian collection
Status
Processed
Author
Andrew Lippert, Special Collections Processing Archivist
Date
August 2023
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English

Repository Details

Part of the Manuscript Collections Repository

Contact:
University of California
Rivera Library
P.O. Box 5900
Riverside 92517-5900 USA