Date: 9/4/08
Conservator: Stephanie Gowler
Instructor: Chela Metzger
Call Number/Collection: personal collection
Author: n/a
Title: The Lady’s Companion, Volume XII
Imprint: New York, 1840
Collation/foliation: 317 pages (III-IV; 3-308)
Format: bound journal
Dimensions (binding): 26 H x 17.5 W x 4.5 T cm
Dimensions (textblock): 25.2 H x 16.5 W x 4 T cm
Inserts
A small sheet of paper stuck in after the second endsheet at the front of the textblock; “The Lady’s Companion, Vol XII, November 1839 to April 1840”
Long strip (bookmark) stuck in at first index page; “SUM (typed); 281988 (stamped)”
TREATMENT OBJECTIVE
To explore special collections treatment options—including disbinding, washing, bleaching, sizing, and guarding—on non-collection material.
DESCRIPTION & CONDITION
Binding
This is a tight back, tight-joint construction with laced-on boards. It is covered half-style in dark green sheepskin leather and an embossed purplish-brown cloth. There are two tooled skiver labels on the spine.
The binding is in poor condition overall. The leather has been abraded, scarred, cracked, and is delaminating at the edges of the boards, at the head and tail of the spine, and along the cracks in the spine. The covering cloth is soiled, stained, abraded, discolored, and is fraying and unadhered to the board at the bottom, left edge of the front board. The boards suffer from planar distortion; they are bent and delaminating at the foredge corners.
Case-to-Text Attachment
Three sewing supports are laced in to the boards. The case-to-text attachment is intact.
Textblock
The textblock appears to be sewn 3-on with linen thread over three recessed hemp cord supports. The spine profile is smooth. The textblock paper is cream-colored, medium weight, smooth texture machine-made paper. There are 15 engraved plates inserted throughout the textblock; these are on a darker, thicker, rougher paper. The tipped, single-folio endsheets are a pink, smooth, semi-thick paper. Edges are trimmed and sprinkled. Endbands are stuck-on, with a cord core and brown textile covering. The media is a black printer’s ink with a visible type impression. There is graphite present on pages III & IV.
The textblock is in poor condition overall. Foxing, discoloration, tidelines, and stains are present throughout. The original stab sewing holes of the journal are present near the gutter. The paper is relatively flexible, though there is some embrittlement. The textblock is split between pages 306-307.
PROPOSED TREATMENT
1) Remove spine and cover board and disbind approximately half of the text block.
2) Wash, bleach, size, and perform both simple and complex guarding.
3) Re-sew disbound sections.
4) Consolidate textblock.
5) Rebind in historically appropriate binding.
Estimated treatment time: 40 hours
TREATMENT PERFORMED
1) Gently surfaced cleaned entire textblock with soft brush. (1 hr.)
2) Faced spine with solvent-set tissue. (15 min.)
3) Lifted spine mechanically. (1 hr.)
4) Detached top board by breaking cords. (10 min.)
5) Cleaned spine with poultice of WSP:MC mix; washed endbands in de-ionized water. (2 hrs.)
6) Washed all disbound sections and plates in alkaline-enhanced baths. (4 hrs.)
7) Bleached title page, index, first plate and section #1 in 0.25% solution of sodium borohydride. (30 min.)
8) Bleached section #14 (pages 103-110) in 1% solution of hydrogen peroxide. (30 min.)
9) Sized first 7 sections (including title page, index, and plate) in gelatin. (45 min.)
10) Sized sections 15 & 16 (pages 111-126) in 1% methylcellulose solution. (45 min.)
11) Rebuilt folios for sections 20-25 with long fiber paper (Tangucho). (6.5 hrs.)
12) Guarded sections 26-31 with long fiber paper (Tangucho). (4 hrs.)
13) Inserted Western paper stays into the inner folios of sections 20-25. (20 min.)
14) Adhered long fiber paper stubs to first 4 pages (endpaper, title page, index, plate) and wrapped around first section. (30 min.)
15) Re-sewed disbound sections onto 4-ply recessed linen cords and reinforced kettles with 2-ply linen thread. (3 hrs.)
16) Lined both the re-sewn sections and the still-bound lower half of the textblock with thin Tangucho lining. (20 min.)
17) Rounded and backed the re-sewn part to match original shape. (20 min.)
Total treatment time: 26 hours
MATERIALS USED
· Precipitated wheat starch paste (WSP) 1:4, cooked 20 minutes in de-ionized water, Colophon
· Methylcellulose (MC), 4000 centipoises, 2.5% (w/v) diluted in hot then cold de-ionized water, Fisher Scientific
· Lacscaux 498 HV, Talas
· Ethanol, 200 Proof, absolute anhydrous, ACS/USP grade, Pharmco-AAPER
· Calcium Hydroxide, Fisher Scientific 1998
· Sodium Borohydride, 0.25%
· Hydrogen Peroxide, 1% diluted in de-ionized water
· Purified grade Gelatin, 0.5% cooked to 130 degrees F in de-ionized water, Fisher
· Methylcellulose, 4C, 1% (w/v) diluted in hot then cold de-ionized water, Dow Chem 2008
· Tangucho long fiber tissue, Hiromi
· Crompton’s Heat Set Tissue
· Western handmade paper
· 100% linen seaming thread
· 100% linen cord
· Hollytex
· Blotter paper
· Mylar, Talas