when in the stacks I must resist The urge to make A pefect fist And punch the books All in the spine To shelve them straight- I’ll get a fine.
Category: ConserveThis! Archive
This is an archive of posts from both my old blogs (Digital Cellulose, Chartex project) and my current Tumblr blog, Conserve This!
when in my labI much insistour oldest pasteyou don’t ingestfor if you do yur act I see-I must reportto lab safety
This parchment leaf from a Medieval choir book was mounted to somebody’s vision board before it was framed, many years ago. I’ve done a lot of backing removals over the years, but this one is probably the most inspirational of them all!
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Um…okay?
Ummm… …okay, that works I guess.
conservethis: Roses are red, Violets are blue, If you put tape on your books, I’ll never EVER love you. Roses are red, Violets are blue, The conservator is thinking: What’s up with this glue? 💖 💖 💖 Roses are red,Violets are blue,In-painting requiresA deftness with hue. 💖 💖 💖 Roses are red,Violets are blue,Come to the lab andWe’ll […]
Today I’m working on a treatment that is basically the rare book equivalent of cleaning under the couch cushions. This 2-volume herbal was used by a previous owner as a plant press, and many leaves, flowers and other assorted plant parts were discovered in-between its pages by our special collections librarian. The plants had already […]
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No love for sticky-notes
💔 💔 💔 💔 No love for whoever used these pink heart-shaped sticky notes in one of our library books. They are now firmly attached to the page, even after only being placed there less than 8 months ago. Our circulation staff sent this book to Preservation after they tried to remove one of the […]
And this is also why the staff at the library will often stress that patrons should not attempt their own repairs of library books. The “repair” often does more damage than helps, and won’t actually save you from being fined for a repair or replacement fee. This was so heavily damaged that we ended up withdrawing […]
The results of a very productive three day bookbinding workshop, making board attachment models with the amazing Karen Hanmer. For more information on Karen’s work and teaching, check out her site!
Wow, whoever originally backed this 19th century publisher’s binding should’ve really taken a moment to calm down and take a deep breath first before continuing. They really beat the heck out of it with the hammer! Backing is “the process of shaping a ridge or shoulder on each side of the spine of a text […]