The West Coast Tribute to the 50th Anniversary of the Florence Flood and the Book and Paper Conservation Techniques Developed

Featuring Sheila Waters and Julian Waters
Sheila Waters is author of the April 2016 book, Waters Rising: Letters from Florence, a chronicle of the Flood Treatments at the National Library of Florence. Julian Waters was a consultant and co-designer of the book.

Renowned calligrapher Sheila Waters, and her son, lettering designer Julian Waters, will speak about Sheila’s book in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Florence Flood—Waters Rising: Letters from Florence, chronicling the leadership role her husband, the leading bookbinder Peter Waters (1930–2003), played in organizing monumental efforts to save 100,000+ severely damaged rare books in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze (National Library, Florence) after the flood in 1966, the most devastating flood in the city’s history. The book contains nearly 50 letters from Peter that served as his diary of the work undertaken, and Sheila’s letters back, along with 300 photos, mostly taken by Peter. After his work in Florence, Peter Waters was appointed as Chief of Conservation at the Library of Congress and has had a lasting influence on book and paper conservation during the past 50 years.