aroline has given many lectures during her career, whether at professional gatherings or otherwise. She delivered a lecture at the Historic Libraries Forum conference in 2019 entitled “Battered by bibliophiles – is damage-free access possible?”, gave an online talk on conserving the National Trust’s libraries as part of the “Together at home” webinar series run by the Book and Paper group of ICON in 2020, and lectured on packing up the books at St. Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai at the 13th international seminar on “Care and conservation of manuscripts” at the University of Copenhagen in 2011. She has lectured to the Book and Paper Group of the Institute of Conservation (ICON) on the challenges of working in situ, rather than in a studio, based on her work for the National Trust.
Caroline has given lectures to smaller organisations, such as the Trefoil Guild in Ipswich (2019) and the Loose History Society in Kent (2007), as well as National Trust membership societies, e.g. Walsall in 2017, as well as twice-daily 15-minute talks at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent as part of the programme of conservation in action undertaken for two months each year between 2014-2018. Her images are mostly taken by her during the course of her career.
In 2021 Caroline became an accredited lecturer for The Arts Society, at present offering two lectures:
- A brief history of Western bookbinding
- The conservation of the National Trust’s libraries
She is currently carrying out ground-breaking research with two colleagues for a further lecture, to be announced in 2023.
“Caroline’s lecture on a history of Western book-binding had her non-expert audience spellbound. Her encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject, her easy-to-listen-to style and the glorious illustrations meant that everyone connected with bookbinding in a way we didn’t think was possible. Her ability to illustrate an overview of centuries with a careful selection of detail made for a perfectly balanced lecture and it is hard to imagine anyone better equipped to entertain by education on this subject. “
Stephen Taylor, Chair of the Lansdowne Club Arts Group
“Caroline gave a very enthusiastic and dynamic lecture on the conservation of the National Trust (NT) libraries. For what could be a dry subject, she certainly brought it to life with her first-hand experience and clear passion for her work. It was a really interesting talk and will make you look at NT libraries in a different light.”
Will Gilding, Programme Secretary, Leicester ARTS Society
“Caroline Bendix was thoroughly recommended to our society by our Church Recorders group, who had heard her speak previously. She gave us a lecture entitled “From Codex to Perfect Binding” and we could not have had a better introduction to the subject.”
Caroline Osbourne, Chairman and Co-Programme Secretary, West Suffolk DFAS