medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Good question....
Most important thing here is that you have to work on the environment.
The easiest step to accomplish the most.
1. Cooler temperatures. moderate to low humidity. Keep them in a room
where it is sligltly cooler than you want to be. You can look up the
ideal temperature but if you have to wear a sweater it is generally just
right for leather and objects in general.
2. While not as iportant for books and paper as for metal handle with
gloves. However, golves for books should be as non abrasive as possible.
Fingers are less harsh than ctton gloves in this regard. A plastic
rubber sort of glove may be better.
3. Watch out for dust mold and insects. Both paper and leather and glues
are saught after by insects. While one does not want to be air tight one
wants to be as dust free as possible. Clean the air with filters in the
storage area and wrap well but not airtight.
4. There is enough acid in books and especially bindings- don't add any.
Wrap books in acid free paper and store in acid free cardboard.
There are techniques for minimizing or removing acid from the materials
these may be expensive but if you have things that are valuable enough
or can make friends with someone who does this give it a shot.
General rule. Don't handle the book make a copy. Scan or photograph with
digital camera. The latter may be easier. With a good camera and a
little practice (I have a low to mid range camera) you can get great
results and you dont have to lay the things on flat beds for scanning.
Protect from light as well....
Probably lots of stuff on line somewhere too. Yes british museum leather
dressing is toxic, expensive, flamable and needs a trained professional
to instruct. You probably can do it with a bit of instruction so dont
need a magician conservator but should consult one or read up on it.
Always try to use techniques that are reversable and document everything
you do in treatment for future use.
Conrad
Paul Chandler wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> From the Library of Congress Preservation Dept.:
>
> Leather dressings were at one time thought to be useful in
> extending the life of leather bindings. Experience has shown,
> however, that its benefit is primarily cosmetic and that the use
> of leather dressing by someone without professional expertise,
> does more harm than good.
> <http://www.loc.gov/preserv/care/leather.html>
>
>
> But book conservators have been disagreeing about leather dressing for
> years:
> <http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/1996/1010.html>
> -- Paul Chandler
>
>
> 2008/10/5 George R. Hoelzeman <[log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
>
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
> culture
>
> OK - so this is more of an archival question, but I figure either
> someone will know or tell me where to go . . . or both ;-))
>
> I have a number of older, leather bound books ranging from the
> early 20th Century back to 1685. The leather binding on several
> has dried out considerably and
> some are quite fragile. Not infrequently, I have recourse to some
> of these books for various reasons. What is the best treatment
> for the leather covers? I've
> heard of people rubbing them down periodically with neatsfoot oil,
> but those people were interior decorators and not concerned with
> books other than as display
> items. I'd like to do what's best for the book both short and
> long term (usability for my purposes, preservation for the future).
>
> Thanks for any suggestions and insights (and yes, I know I should
> use the little cotton gloves when handling them :-)).
>
> George the Less
>
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