The conference was chaired by Nina Root, Director of the American Museum of Natural History. The parts most interesting to conservators are summarized below. The questions after each talk brought out replies from the floor and from other speakers as well. For convenience they are presented together, without attribution. If a pre-1800 binding is ruined 1, make a new one, but don't imitate the old one.
Recreations are offensive.
The conservation binder shouldn't make all the decisions, but should confer with the curator. Adhesive binding is the second best method, after sewing through the fold. In order to get back nondestructive bindings that will last, the librarian must specify the type of binding desired for each individual volume. Some dealers may obliterate provenance marks, but there is nothing you can do about it. After all, we collect oriental scrolls with conspicuous ownership marks.