Paul Delrue | Mud Angel
When we published a new edition of Florence: Ordeal by Water - the diaries of Kathrine Kressmann Taylor - I had no idea quite how many new stories and books and writers and readers would bubble up and connect as a direct result of her account of the flooding of the River Arno in Florence in 1966.
So it is a huge honour to reproduce here an essay by one of my favourite artists, Valerie Greeley, who contacted me after reading Florence: Ordeal by Water. Valerie had no idea of the magnitude of the damage caused by the flood until she delved into the book. But a connection to this tragic event had already been laid out for her - one might say, serendipitously…
It was while researching how to bind books almost two decades ago that Valerie met Paul Delrue, who she stumbled across while looking up The Society of Bookbinders. As you will discover from her essay below, she has been happily entranced with his work, and his legacy, ever since.
Here is the story of mud angel Paul Delrue:
“I recently finished reading Katherine Kressmann Taylor’s diary Florence: Ordeal by Water. Although I had visited Florence and knew a little about the terrible events of thevflood, I did not appreciate the true scale of the disaster until I read this book. This eye-witness account brought home to me the sheer enormity of the tragedy in terms of human misery with homes and businesses devastated. So many precious artefacts, books and paintings were ruined by the mud and debris when the Arno burst its banks on that fateful November evening in 1966. Despite the obvious gloom described in this gripping eye witness account there are tales of heroic deeds, dogged determination and the courage of the Florentine citizens, later followed by an army of volunteers, the Angeli del Fango.
The clarion call for help was heard far and wide, with over a million books in the Biblioteca Nationale submerged in toxic mud the task of conservation was seemingly impossible. One such volunteer was my friend Paul Delrue. Whereas Katherine had her typewriter to record events, Paul had his precious Box Brownie camera to capture some of those scenes.
Paul Delrue was already an established Fellow of Designer Bookbinders by the time I met him. He was a leading figure in, and later Patron of the Society of Bookbinders which is where we first became acquainted. I had the good fortune to live in the North West and North Wales area and as a total novice was welcomed into his region of the society, there he often spoke of his youth and the part he played in Florence and he recalled those earlier times in his book My Soul Has No Friends.
Paul spent his early years growing up in a boy’s home and later he became an apprenticeat University College library. His artistic flair and bookbinding skills brought him early recognition which lead to his invitation to go to Florence. He writes: ‘In early 1967 I had been asked by Howard Nixon the Deputy Keeper of The British Museum, to hold myself in readiness to go to Florence.’ I imagine that this was hugely exciting for a young man who had hardly any experience of travel and being a very sociable person I think he would have enjoyed being with a group of people his own age.
His conservation work in Florence was spent in the book baths where he washed the mud from the pages of manuscripts which had been previously dismantled. The pages were then carefully dried, Paul told of how he had to hang them out to dry on washing lines along the railway tracks! His experiences were recounted with great affection, he writes: ‘The beauty of Florence overwhelmed me and my favourite meeting place was the Ponte Vecchio.’
The conservationists who helped in the 1966 Florence flood had to devise new methods of mass scale treatments and valuable lessons were learned which helped prepare for any future events. Paul, however, did not pursue a career in that direction, his heart and soul was in art and design. I think something in the spirit of Florence and its citizens sparked that flame.
Paul died last year and did not live to see the 50th celebrations of the Society he helped to found which was a great pity because he loved a party! I remember him with affection, he was a generous teacher, mentor to many rising stars in the bookbinding world. He had a wicked sense of humour, a sparkle in his eye and song in his heart. His legacy lives on in his beautiful fine bindings which grace both public and private collections the world over.”
By Valerie Greeley
Useful links
Delrue Bookbinders
Designer Bookbinders | Paul Delrue
The Society of Bookbinders
Valerie Greeley | website
Books about Florence
Florence: Ordeal by Water by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor (Manderley Press, 2024)
Angels of Mud by Vanessa Nicolson (signed copies exclusively at manderleypress.com)
A guide to the carousel images above
A young Paul Delrue in Florence, 1967.
Paul outside the Pensione Bretagne.
Paul outside the National Library, the shadow is Professor Leo Coulston.
The British Team of conservators.
A group of Paul’s friends in Florence.
The Arno after the flood, the flood waters reached the top of the arches of the bridge.
Student dining.
In the wash house, Italian students washing the books. Paul second from the back.
Paul holding one of his bindings at a meeting of The Society Of Bookbinders.
