Ira Alrdidge theater broadsides
- Date: January 27, 2009
- Owner/Custodian: Northwestern University Library Special Collections
- Title/Subject/Description (.01): Ira Aldridge theater broadside
- Creator: W. Reynolds (9 Exeter Street, London)
- Date of production: London
- Place of production: 1833
Before Treatment
Front (Left Half): Ambient Light
Front (Left Half): Raking Light
Back (Left Half): Ambient Light
Back (Left Half): Raking Light
Front, Left Half, Top Left corner
Front, Left Half, Top Right corner
Front (Right Half): Ambient Light
Front (Right Half): Raking Light
Front, Right Half, Top Left corner
Front, Right Half, Top Right corner
After Treatment
Front (Left Half): Ambient Light
Front (Left Half): Raking Light
Back (Left Half): Ambient Light
Back (Left Half): Raking Light
Front (Left Half) Top Left Corner
Front (Left Half), Top Right Corner
Front (Right Half): Ambient Light
Front (RIght Half): Raking Light
Back (Right Half): Ambient Light
Back (Right Half): Raking Light
Front (Right Half), Top Left Corner
Front (Right Half), Top Right CornerTreatment ReportDESCRIPTION
Dimensions (Primary Support):
- (Left/Top Half)
English: 8.4 in W x 13.3 in H
Metric: 21.4 cm W x 33.9 cm H
(Right/Bottom Half)
English: 8.3 in W x 13.4 in H
Metric: 21.1 cm W x 34 cm H
General
This is a theater broadside that was created by a relief printing process on a thin cream-colored wove paper with a black, oil-based printer’s ink.
Media
Black Printing Ink: The media was laid down using a relief-printing method, using an oil-based black ink. There is an even halo of oil penetration around each of the letters in the text.
Primary Support
The primary support is a very thin, blue-gray colored wove paper that seems to be mold-made, due to the presence of a deckle-edge on the right/bottom broadside. There are ink smudges and oil transfer from proximity to other printed articles as a result of the original printing methods.CONDITION
General
Each half of the broadside has sustained significant loss and damage to the top corners as a result of being mounted to a rigid mat with adhesive tape applied to the back. There has been some abrasion-related damage and minor tears to all edges, and there is mild grime overall.
Media
- Black Printing Ink: The black printing ink is in good condition.
Primary Support
Prior to treatment, the objects were mounted next to each other in a window mat. An adhesive paper-backed tape adhered to the back was employed to mount the top edges of the support to the mat-board. Due to their previous housing arrangement, the similarity of the support, and the content of the text, these objects may originally have been in one piece. However, due to the lack of certainty about their original format, these broadsides will be described individually according to how they were presented at the time of this examination. As per the original mounting, the broadside originally mounted on the left (“Complete Success”/Othello) will be referred to as “Left/Top Half” and the broadside mounted on the right (“The Labyrinth”) will be referred to as “Right/Bottom Half”. The Left/Top Half broadside does not have a printer’s name at the bottom, which would be typical of this type of object; the Right/Bottom Half broadside does have a printer’s name, suggesting that these two pieces may have once been the top and bottom halves of a single broadside.
As a result of the mounting method used, there has been significant damage along the top corners of both halves. The Left/Top Half was mounted on the back with a piece of tape in each corner, and an 8.5 cm long strip across the center of the top edge. The top left corner broke away, but remained mostly whole, from the rest of the support, approximately 3.2 cm from the left edge and 3.3 cm from the top edge of the support. A piece of tape 2.7 cm long by 1.9 cm high remains adhered to this fragment. The top right corner also broke away, with almost complete loss of the support; the only remaining piece of the top right corner is a fragment approximately 1.5 cm wide by 0.9 cm high, which is still adhered to the mounting tape.
The Right/Bottom Half was mounted using a piece of tape in each corner. There has been significant loss to these corners as a result. A 3 cm long by 0.9 cm high fragment was detached from the top right corner. A pair fragments – approximately 1.3 cm long by 0.5 high – were detached from the top left corner. The area of loss surrounding these fragments, in the top left corner, is approximately 1.2 cm high by 4.1 cm long.
There is minor grime overall on both halves, but especially along the edges and in the corners. There is a splattered pattern of round, 1-2 mm wide, brown stains that seems consistent with some sort of ink or a liquid such as tea. These stains are found in the lower 3 cm of the bottom edge on the verso side of the support, on both broadsides. There is also a 2mm wide brown accretion on the Left/Top Half broadside, approximately 3.8 cm from the left edge and 8 cm from the bottom edge.
Both halves have sustained damage from abrasion and minor handling tears along all edges. There is an 8.5 cm long crease in the bottom left corner of the Left/Top Half broadside. There is a 9.5 cm long crease in the bottom right corner of the Right/Bottom Half broadside.PHOTOGRAPHY
Before Treatment: Digital images overall and close-ups of the corners in both raking and ambient light.
TREATMENT PROPOSAL
- Dry-clean the support where needed.
- Remove the mounting tape from the verso side of the support.
- Wash both halves in an alkaline DI water bath.
- While the support is still wet from the bath, line both halves separately with a thin Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste.
- Reattach corner fragments to lining using wheat starch paste.
- Re-house each half in individual Mylar sleeves, but keep together in a folder to replicate original housing arrangement and suggestion of the prior unification of the two halves of the broadside.
TREATMENT PERFORMED
Completed in 2009.BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Lunning, E and Perkinson, R. 1996. The Print Council of America Paper Sample Book. The Print Council of America.