Expertise
Facsimile Editions is uniquely positioned to offer a wide range of skills and services delivering unparalleled quality unlikely to be found elsewhere. We tackle the most complex work and are happy to travel worldwide to meet you and discuss your project with you.
Facsimiles of the giant Alba Bible and the miniature Me’ah Berachot
In the process of accurately reproducing some of the world’s greatest manuscript treasures, we have acquired an enviable reputation for fine work and accumulated a wealth of highly specialised expertise.
A great part of that expertise is the team that we have built in the fields of photography, colour separation, printing, papermaking, parchment and vellum making, gilding, laser cutting, leather tanning, marquetry, bookbinding, silver making, acrylic fabrication and packaging. Most of these specialists have worked with us continuously since the founding of Facsimile Editions in 1980.
By commissioning fresh research with the publication of each new manuscript facsimile, we have built a team of world class scholars who we can call on to write and edit the commentary volumes.
Our strong professional reputation with major national collecting libraries affords us access to their treasures.
Manuscripts
Illuminated Codices
Papyri
Scrolls
Reproducing the finest manuscripts demands world-class expertise.
We combine the skills of specialist paper mills, master printers, fine binders, silversmiths, tanners and many other craftspeople to produce facsimiles of unparalleled quality.
If the original is particularly delicate, conservators will oversee the manuscript’s preparation for imaging and, if necessary, restoration.
If required, we can produce a commentary volume to accompany the facsimile.
Manuscripts
Illuminated Codices
Papyri
Scrolls
Reproducing the finest manuscripts demands world-class expertise.
We combine the skills of specialist paper mills, master printers, fine binders, silversmiths, tanners and many other craftspeople to produce facsimiles of unparalleled quality.
If the original is particularly delicate, conservators will oversee the manuscript’s preparation for imaging and, if necessary, restoration.
If required, we can produce a commentary volume to accompany the facsimile.
Feel, Ageing and Binding
A facsimile must satisfy the reader’s senses. We measure the original manuscript’s parchment, vellum or paper and emulate its thickness and feel.
We use the finest parchment, prepared in the same way as it has been for centuries and select each skin to match the original as closely as possible. Our papyrus is grown by the River Nile but processed in Europe.
For large projects, paper is milled specially to emulate the qualities of the original manuscript and can include a watermark. A minimum ‘making’ is five tons.
By combining traditional skills such as hand-colouring the edges of each leaf, reproducing repairs and book worm with modern techniques such as laser cutting , we accurately reproduce the ravages of time.
Feel, Ageing and Binding
A facsimile must satisfy the reader’s senses. We measure the original manuscript’s parchment, vellum or paper and emulate its thickness and feel.
We use the finest parchment, prepared in the same way as it has been for centuries and select each skin to match the original as closely as possible. Our papyrus is grown by the River Nile but processed in Europe.
For large projects, paper is milled specially to emulate the qualities of the original manuscript and can include a watermark. A minimum ‘making’ is five tons.
By combining traditional skills such as hand-colouring the edges of each leaf, reproducing repairs and book worm with modern techniques such as laser cutting , we accurately reproduce the ravages of time.
Printing
The artists who created the originals used many pigments that can today only be replicated with special inks. We stand at the press to supervise the printing of every sheet.
Gold & Silver
For the reproduction of gold illumination, we have perfected the application of metal leaf to a raised surface to replicate burnished gold and silver. Flat gold, powdered gold and silver leaf can also be reproduced.
When called for, 23½-carat gold leaf is applied by hand.
Printing
The artists who created the originals used many pigments that can today only be replicated with special inks. We stand at the press to supervise the printing of every sheet.
Gold & Silver
For the reproduction of gold illumination, we have perfected the application of metal leaf to a raised surface to replicate burnished gold and silver. Flat gold, powdered gold and silver leaf can also be reproduced.
When called for, 23½-carat gold leaf is applied by hand.
Ageing and Binding
The binding of the manuscript is exceptionally important as it ensures the facsimile’s longevity and conveys the initial impact of the original manuscript.
To reproduce the patina of the original and the ravages of time, our experienced bookbinders use the finest skins and go to great lengths to produce works of outstanding quality to be enjoyed by many future generations.
The video describes the binding process from beginning to end.
Presentation
Displaying and protecting the facsimile is important. We produce innovative, elegant and practical, slip-cases and lecterns.
Presentation
Displaying and protecting the facsimile is important. We produce innovative, elegant and practical, slip-cases and lecterns.
“For many years now, Linda and Michael have created unique pieces which are owned by private collectors and many famous libraries around the world. The facsimile is no exception and stands as testimony to their immense commitment and dedication to produce books that exude beauty and creativity.” The British Library, London
“For many years now, Linda and Michael have created unique pieces which are owned by private collectors and many famous libraries around the world. The facsimile is no exception and stands as testimony to their immense commitment and dedication to produce books that exude beauty and creativity.”
The British Library, London
“… your company has spared no effort or expenditure in its search for ways in which to make this facsimile perhaps the most faithful and exact copy ever to be produced.
We know of no way in which it could have done more to seek out all that is finest in contemporary craftsmanship in order to reproduce as nearly exactly as possible the colours of the miniatures in the original manuscript and the quality and texture of all the materials used therein.”
“… your company has spared no effort or expenditure in its search for ways in which to make this facsimile perhaps the most faithful and exact copy ever to be produced.
We know of no way in which it could have done more to seek out all that is finest in contemporary craftsmanship in order to reproduce as nearly exactly as possible the colours of the miniatures in the original manuscript and the quality and texture of all the materials used therein.”
Bodleian Library, Oxford
Custom Projects
In addition to publishing our own facsimiles, we undertake commissions for both public and private bodies.
We work on projects of all sizes, from copies of a few precious letters or fragments, to the reproduction of the largest manuscripts.
Whether on parchment, goatskin, papyrus, copper, silver or the finest of papers, we create exact copies for collectors, exhibitions and museums and are renowned for our innovative approach, fine quality, attention to intricate detail and masterpieces of book-binding art.
Set out below are some of the unique projects that we have completed. Some of our custom projects may be purchased and also appear on our facsimiles page.
Please contact us to discuss your project with Linda or Michael Falter.
Some of the libraries that collect and commission our work
Read some of the many reviews of our work