Michaelle Biddle has advanced degrees in librarianship, archival management, and
archaeology. Since 2008 she has been consulting conservator for Northern Nigerian
manuscript collections, supported by grants from the U.S. Ambassador's Cultural
Preservation Fund, the Fufore Family of Yola, the Islamic Manuscript Association and the
Ford Foundation. Her interest in and work with Islamic manuscripts dates to her
undergraduate studies in Middle Eastern Anthropology (Archaeology) and History, and an
internship at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Whilst Islamic art
bibliographer at Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. (Antiquarian Oriental and African
booksellers) she studied with Roger de Coverly of the London School of Printing in book
arts and conservation, with particular emphasis on 19th century and Islamic materials. In
the early 1990s she established a comprehensive book conservation program and lab at
Wesleyan University that now annually trains ten undergraduate students and one
apprentice. She is presently working on establishing the first paper conservation lab in
Nigeria.
In addition to paper and book conservation she is particularly interested in material
cultural analysis of bookmaking and manuscript production, inks, pigments, dyes and paper
watermarks.
As an archaeologist she has participated in digs in Pacqueme, Mexico; Huaco Tanks, Texas;
Petra, Jordan; Cotocotuyoc (Cuzco Valley), Peru; Kazakl'i-yatkan (Urgench),
Uzbekistan; and Pompeii, Italy.
NORTHERN NIGERIAN MANUSCRIPTS IN ARABIC SCRIPT
