On the first day of the conference, in the specially arranged Gothic Art Hall of the medieval town hall in Torun, the first monumental exhibition of Gothic bindings in European museology will be opened, entitled Gothic bindings of the 13th and 16th centuries from Torun collections. It will include approximately 80 pieces of European book bindings, stored in Torun institutions: the University Library, the Copernicus Library, the State Archives and the Diocesan Museum. The selected objects will include, among others: volumes from the Teutonic libraria, cut-leather bindings (Lederschnitteinbände), a set of wooden, engraved wax tablet bindings, a unique Cologne binding from the 14th century, a binding decorated with seal stamps, a light leather binding covered with a decoration printed in black from a woodcut block, libri catenati, a rich set of bindings with late Gothic decorations, so-called Langsticheinbände, or a large-format gradual binding with a key lock. The exhibition will be enriched by works of Gothic painting and sculpture, presenting the motif of bound books, as well as a selected set of works of Gothic artistic craftsmanship – especially goldsmithing – decorated with motifs and ornaments analogous to those in bookbinding decorations. Explanations for all objects will be in Polish and English.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue edited by Arkadiusz Wagner and collaborators (Magdalena Awianowicz, Marta Czyżak, Beata Madajewska, Krzysztof Nierzwicki). Copies of the catalog will be a gift from the organizers for all registered participants of the Conference.