Following on from the Camberwell-Saint Catherine’s survey of the monastery’s manuscripts, the Condition Assessment Survey of the Printed Books includes 1,500 volumes equal in significance and value to the manuscripts.

The project commenced in May 2007 under the leadership of Prof. Nicholas Pickwoad. Teams of experts from Camberwell will carry out the work on regular visits to Saint Catherine’s.

The survey methodology is based on that of the manuscript survey, with some differences to accommodate the larger number of western European bindings to be found in this part of the collection. It also makes use of the terminology developed during the course of the manuscript assessment. The printed books survey will be largely electronic. The data will be entered onto laptop computers directly from the books, and all photography will be done with a digital camera.