After long, long neglect, the humble American scaleboard binding has seen a surge of interest in the last few years. Two articles feature scaleboard bindings in the recently published compilation Suave Mechanicals, Volume 1, edited by Julia Miller (Suave Mechanicals: Essays on the History of Bookbinding, volume 1. ed. Julia Miller. Ann Arbor: The Legacy Press, 2013. http://www.legacy-press.com). Miller herself presents the results of her survey of 858 scaleboard bindings in North American collections. John Townsend reports on a study of six copies of the same 1715 prayer book in scaleboard bindings.
Wolcott’s investigation neatly dovetails with and enriches those studies. Like Miller, and following methodology made popular by Nickolas Pickwoad, the basis of her work is a minute examination and recording of material and structural details. She examined 85 scaleboard bindings in the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the Winterthur library.
Scaleboard is a thin (as little at one millimeter thick) planed wood used as the boards on popular American colonial publications from around the mid seventeenth to the early nineteenth centuries. These bindings, says Wolcott, are the product of a four hundred years of streamlining, simplifying, and cost reduction in bookbinding. Although the roots of this binding tradition can be traced to the European origins of the Colonists, the scaleboard binding is singularly American.
The texts so bound are usually popular subjects: sermons, religious tracts, pamphlets, hymns or songbooks, and especially in the later end of their popularity, primers and other basic textbooks. The audience for these books are churchgoers, parents, schoolchildren—these were the books, Wolcott explained, for the 99 per cent. These bindings have not been collected or treasured; the fact that they exist in library collections is because someone selected the text as worth keeping.
In addition to the eponymous scaleboard, the bindings are characterized by cheap sewing—typically stabbed with tawed, leather, or cloth thongs, or sewn on sunk cords—with very little fit and finish. The slips from the thongs attach to the boards by the simple expedient of pasting them down on the outside (under the leather) or the inside of the boards (under the pastedown—if there is one). The scaleboard binding is to the binding tradition, Wolcott asserts, what the Yugo is to the history of the automobile: basic, affordable, stripped down function—although not particularly durable function.
When looking for scaleboard bindings, first think small. Rarely are these bindings larger than octavo size. Gary Frost, commenting after Wolcott’s talk, suspects the size limit is related to the limitations of the tools used to make the boards—but the manufacture and production of scaleboard is a topic for further investigation. (Frost also mentioned observing scaleboards cut with hand shears, not with boardsheers or similar machines or jigs.) Scaleboard bindings are highly prone to damage—and that can make them easy to identify. Often the wood is visible through worn cover material. These books tend to be lighter weight than books made with pasteboard or fiberboard, and a gentle tap gives a hollow wood tone instead of a dull thud.
Most of the early imprints in scaleboard bindings before 1760 are from Boston. Over time the place of publication spreads out along the Eastern seaboard as far as Vermont in the north and Pennsylvania in the south. At least one binding Wolcott reviewed gives the place of publication simply as “New England.”
Of the 85 bindings Wolcott recorded, 55% were stabbed with two strips of tawed skin or leather; 44% were sewn through the fold, on recessed cords. She showed some fascinating images of books that had been notched for sewing on recessed cords, whether they eventually were sewn that way or not. Some books were notched but the leaf attachment was stabbed thongs, others were sewn on sunk cords using some but not all the notches. Yet another had evidence of temporary side stitching—and the notches. The evidence suggests that the text blocks were printed, folded, and sold pre-notched to others who might or might not use the notching for their binding. A minority, 13 bindings, were sewn on raised cords.
Endsheets for these bindings tend to the minimalist. Some books have none. Some, usually earlier books, use printer’s waste to form a simple pastedown that may be just a flange of a couple inches or may extend across the width of the board. Later books were more likely to have blank paper for endsheets.
The boards on all but five examples in Wolcott’s study have the grain running horizontally. Where the grain is vertical, it has a strong tendency to split with use. Wolcott looked carefully at the wood, where it was exposed, for evidence of where on the tree truck it was cut from. Most of the boards—71 bindings—were from logs that were split and radially cut. Others were cut tangential to the wood grain; boards cut this way tend to warp. (Trust me—what you really need here are to see Wolcott’s diagrams; look for them in the BPG Annual postprint.) The variation suggests a trade and working techniques that were not standardized.
There has been some speculation about the types of wood used for scaleboard and assumptions that the usual suspects—oak, beech, and the like—were used. Wolcott partnered with a botanist at Winterthur, Henry Alden, who analyzed the wood on some of the examples she identified. They were surprised to find nine examples of ash boards. Ash is a hardwood that we currently associate with baseball bats; in colonial times it would be used for furniture and such like, but it is not normally associated with bookbinding.
The earlier bindings, up to around 1790, tend to be covered in full leather. Later bindings typically have a quarter-leather spine and paper sides. Wolcott showed several typical examples and variations. The leather is often thick and crude, with knife gouges on the flesh side that have not been smoothed out and turn-ins that are rough and uneven. Decoration, if there is any, is usually limited to some simple blind-tooled single or double fillet lines. One Germantown binding with greater pretentions to its medieval wooden-board predecessors had straps and clasps on the fore edge.
After 1790 the books examined are quarter-bound leather. Many have sides of blue paper. A few have decorated (stencil, marbled, or Dutch-gilt) paper; one has paper printed with the title page. Wolcott showed an example of a full-paper binding with a quarter-leather spine evident under the paper. Another example was covered over in coarse canvas. Music books, printed landscape, usually had a thick leather over wrapper, probably added by the owner for extra protection.
The combination of inherent weakness of structure and popular, frequently used texts means that repairs abound on these bindings. Often the thongs attaching the text block breaks. Wolcott showed examples of repairs involving straight pins, whip stitching of leaves or sections, and oversewing that encompassed both text and cover. The boards are highly prone to split and break. The might be repaired with thread, with cartridge paper glued down, even with strawboard glued over a stitched mend.
Wolcott concluded her presentation with some examples of conservation treatment. One was a full treatment of a 1787 German text she performed at the Center for the Conservation of Art and Historic Artifacts. She disbound the text, repaired the split board with a 25% gelatin solution, resewed, lined, and fitted the text back into the binding.
Generally, however, Wolcott does not advocate such invasive treatment of these bindings. Repairs, if performed at all, should be minimal. She showed an example treated by Stephanie Wolff at Dartmouth, where a ramie band was threaded through the book to replace a missing thong.
Scaleboard bindings are sufficiently rare that Wolcott recommends for most simply improved housing that is sturdy enough to support the fragile boards. She showed examples of tuxedo boxes build out with extra sheets of corrugated board to provide rigidity to the structure and to give the small book some presence on the shelf. An alternative structures adheres the tuxedo box into a hard-shell binder that can defend itself on the shelf.
In the question period Gary Frost speculated that the boards were made as veneer (cut with a veneer knife) instead of sawn wood, but also doubted that the early colonials would have had easy access to veneer knives. What tools would have been used? Wolcott agreed that there is much still to be researched and explored on these bindings.
Category: Book and Paper Conservation
Conference Review for “The Next Chapter: Rare Books in Modern Times,” November 13-14, 2012
“The Next Chapter: Rare Books in Modern Times” conference had an ambitious goal, to offer talks of benefit to anyone with a professional interest in rare books. The conference was presented by the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, and hosted by the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia.
One of the aspects I most appreciated about “The Next Chapter” was the collaborative spirit fostered by having speakers from a diversity of rare book-related professions. Librarians, preservation administrators, conservators, a curator, and a professor of book arts shared their expertise and insights with an audience of more than 100 rare book professionals and students. The presentations ranged from practical preservation basics to inspiring achievements in conservation, digitization, and exhibition methods.
Chela Metzger, Conservator of Library Collections at the Winterthur Museum, gave an overview of contemporary rare book conservation and a brief historical perspective of book conservation. She discussed collaborative digitization and public engagement projects involving conservators and other professionals.
Abigail Quandt, Senior Conservator of Manuscripts and Rare Books at the Walters Art Museum, presented the historical evolution of codex bindings from Coptic Egypt through the early European Renaissance, and some examples of later handwritten Eastern Mediterranean books.
For altered or damaged rare manuscripts, digitization methods may help to reveal the original text and page order. Will Noel, Director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Special Collections Center and The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, discussed the challenges of digitizing and conserving the Archimedes Palimpsest and three other Byzantine manuscripts.
Not all rare books were originally ornate or expensive. Renée Wolcott, Book Conservator at CCAHA, discussed the construction, history, and preservation challenges for the simple, inexpensive American scaleboard bindings of the mid-17th to early 19th centuries.
Jim Hinz, CCAHA’s Director of Book Conservation, spoke about projects that combined book conservation and digital imaging, including the preservation of Bruce Springstein’s original spiral-bound notebooks of lyrics.
For those seeking basic how-to information, Janet Gertz offered two talks on setting preservation priorities and selection for digitization. She is the director of the Columbia University Libraries Preservation and Digital Conversion Division.
Maria Fredericks, Drue Heinz Book Conservator at the Morgan Library & Museum, discussed her institution’s impressive state-of-the-art exhibition program.
Public outreach is an important focus for rare book collections. Christine Nelson, Drue Heinz Curator of Literary and Historical Manuscripts at the Morgan Library & Museum, presented digital strategies to engage the public, educate, and inspire dialogue about special collections.
Eric Pumroy, Director of Library Collections and Seymour Adelman Head of Special Collections for Bryn Mawr College, spoke about ways of promoting and preserving rare book collections, including the use of social media, adopt-a-book programs, exhibits about conservation, and recognition of donors.
In his talk about the University of Alabama’s hands-on MFA book arts classes in Cuba, Professor Steve Miller shared the joy of creation, and a welcome perspective from contemporary makers of hand-crafted, limited edition books. Miller is the Coordinator of the MFA in the Book Arts Program, School of Library Sciences, for the University of Alabama.
Conference participants were invited to attend two optional events, an open house reception at the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, and a rare books talk in the American Philosophical Society’s reading room by Roy Goodman, Assistant Librarian and Curator of Printed Materials. At the reception, CCAHA staff discussed their current conservation treatments and storage housing projects.
The diversity of subjects and perspectives presented during the talks ensured that there was something of interest for everyone. We learned from each other and gained a better understanding of other aspects of the field. “The Next Chapter “ was an inspiring and valuable conference.
Baker Fellowships in Paper Conservation awarded
The University of Michigan (U-M) Library is delighted to announce the first Cathleen A. Baker Fellows in Paper Conservation. Lauren Calcote and Aisha Wahab started their fellowships in early September and will remain in residence with the U-M Library Conservation Lab through August 2013.
Lauren Calcote is a September 2012 graduate of the New York State College, Buffalo, master’s degree program in art conservation, specializing in book conservation. During her fellowship she will be focusing on historical binding structures and book conservation treatments ranging from batch treatment of nineteenth-century cloth bindings to individual treatment of complex vellum books.
Aisha Wahab is starting her final year in the Buffalo program. The Baker Fellowship is helping to support her third-year internship at the University of Michigan Library Conservation Lab. Specializing in paper conservation, she has particular interest in the conservation of Islamic and Middle Eastern manuscripts.
The Cathleen A. Baker Fellowship in Paper Conservation was established in 2011 by a gift from Dr. Baker, Conservation Librarian in the Department of Preservation and Conservation at the University of Michigan Library. The fellowship provides financial support for conservators at various levels in their careers to enable them to spend time in the U-M Library’s Conservation Lab to increase their knowledge about the conservation of paper-based collections.
Applications for fellowship projects starting in Fall 2013 are due January 31, 2013. Information about the fellowship and application forms are available at www.lib.umich.edu/preservation-and-conservation/cathleen-baker-fellowship-conservation-2013-2014
Shannon Zachary
Head, Dept. of Preservation and Conservation
University of Michigan Library
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Conference: “International Conference on the History of Records and Archives (ICHORA 6),” Austin, Texas, USA, August 2-4, 2012
International Conference on the History of Records and Archives (ICHORA 6)
“Exploring Shared Heritage in the History of Archives with Libraries, Information Science/Documentation, Preservation/Conservation, and Museums”
Austin, Texas, USA
August 2-4, 2012
Early bird registration ends July 1, 2012
Further information: http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~ichora6/
Twenty-first century archivists and librarians, information scientists and documentalists, preservation administrators and conservators, and museum professionals share a common rich enterprise of managing information. Yet the fields of each through time have included work that others stake as their province. Consequently through the centuries this shared heritage often has been honored in rivalry grounded:
- in the different purposes archivists and librarians, museum curators and administrators, information scientists and documentalists, and preservation administrators and conservators have claimed as their work
- in the different traditions of practice grown up to deliver the special contribution of each field to society
- in the education appropriate to practicing in each tradition
The papers gathered for this sixth ICHORA meeting address these questions and contextualize them by including a strong set of archival history papers. We anticipate a rich opportunity for scholarly discussion around the papers and the opportunities offered by our venues.
Abstracts of papers to be presented are now available:
<URL:http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~ichora6/program.htm>
Meeting location and local archives: Most of the paper sessions will be held in the Prothro Theater in the Harry Ransom Center, home of a world-class archives of literature and publishing. Attendees will be hosted at a reception with tours at the Briscoe Center for American History, known for its broad holdings of historical manuscripts pertaining to the history of the United States. Other significant archival institutions exist on campus (the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, the Benson Center for Latin American History, the Alexander Architectural Archives) and all are prepared to welcome researchers who may have a few additional days to spend in Austin. All of these institutions can be reached through their websites, all of which are listed at:
<URL:http://www.lib.utexas.edu/help/librarylist.html>
This list does not exhaust the archival wealth of Austin, which is also the home of the Texas State Library and Archives, the Austin History Center (the city archives), the Catholic Archives of Texas, the Presbyterian Archives, the Texas General Land Office, and the Texas Archive of the Moving Image, to name a few within easy reach of the campus.
Registration rates:
Full Registration (Early Bird until July 1, 2012): US $200
Full Registration: US $250
Student Registration: US $100
Day Registration: US $100
Dinner only (for banquet guests; must accompany a participant in the conference and should be included in a participant’s
registration): US $55
To register by credit card see
Professor Patricia Galloway
School of Information
University of Texas at Austin
1616 Guadalupe, Suite 5.202
Austin, Texas 78701-1213
512-232-9220
6th Helen Warren DeGolyer Triennial Competition and Exhibition Winners
The 6th Helen Warren DeGolyer Triennial Competition and Exhibition for American Bookbinding took place Friday, June 8, 2012 at Bridwell Library, Southern Methodist University and it was a great day!
There were 31 entrants in the competition (almost a doubling from last Triennial’s participation); great workshops by Karen Hanmer, Shanna Leino, and Chela Metzger; a superb and personal luncheon presentation by Priscilla Spitler on her design and realization of the binding from that 2009 award-winning design; many moving memorials to Jan Sobota; and a wonderful awards ceremony and exhibition opening–the Bridwell Library staff did a fantastic job of everything!
The winners at this Triennial’s competition are:
Jana Pullman
2012 Award for Design
Eleanore Edwards Ramsey
2012 Award for Excellence in Fine Binding
David John Lawrence
2012 DeGolyer Award for American Bookbinding
See www.smu.edu/Bridwell/Collections/SpecialCollectionsandArchives/Exhibitions/DeGolyer2012.
AIC’s 40th Annual Meeting-May 11, 2012 Joint Session: Book and Paper Group/Research and Technical Studies, with the Archives Conservation Discussion Group and the Library Collections Conservation Discussion Group “Mass De-Acidification Today”
The session was a series of short presentations by the panelists followed by a question and answer session that was open to the floor as well as pre-submitted questions from the AIC membership.
The panelists were: James Burd, President and CEO of Preservation Technologies, LP; Michael Ramin, Project Manager Research/Analytics, Nitrochemie; Dick Smith, owner Wei T’o Associates; Fenella France, Chief, Preservation of Research and Testing Division, Library of Congress; Nora Lockshin, Smithsonian Institution Archive on behalf of Anna Friedman, Conservator, National Archives and Records Administration.
The first presentation by James Burd “Bookkeeper Deacidification: The Chemistry Behind the Process” began with a review of Preservation Technologies’ twenty years in business, including an overview of their products and services as well as the scope of their operations. Mr. Burd spent the most time describing the Bookkeeper process, that it is a non-toxic, non-flammable, non-VOC, odorless process that does not use solvents or produce effluents. The alkaline agent is magnesium oxide (MgO) and in the mass-process it is delivered in an inert suspension liquid in which the books are immersed, relying on an electrostatic attraction to cellulose to deposit the MgO in the paper. Mr. Burd referenced recent research at the Canadian Conservation Institute and assorted technical studies at the Library of Congress in support of the effectiveness of the Bookkeeper process and reminded the audience that whatever the challenges presented by brittle collections, the greatest risk is doing nothing.
Michael Ramin followed with his talk “Durability, Quality Control, and Ink Corrosion Treatment with the Papersave Swiss Mass De-Acidification Process”. Papersave is a solvent based process using hexamethylene disiloxane (HMDO) as the solvent and magnesium as the alkaline agent. For treatment, the books are placed in metal baskets, which are then placed in a chamber for pre-drying, treatment, post drying and re-conditioning. Papers, books and drawings can be treated by this process. The items are treated in a vacuum chamber which ensures saturation by the treatment solution followed by the reconditioning process which allows moisture back into the chamber and the moisture in the air activates the deposited alkaline reserve. The company performs regular quality control in line with the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) and has retained 12 years’ worth of data including surface pH and XRF measurements to determine distribution of alkaline reserve. Papersave also has sample sets for real time ageing at five and ten year intervals. According to Mr. Ramin, the Papersave process is alos safe for paper that has iron gall ink corrosion since “through the treatment the acid is neutralized without removal or migration of the ions, on the contrary some of the iron is bound and neutralized.”
Dick Smith’s talk “Wei T’o Paperguard: Comprehensively De-acidifying, Stabilizing and Strengthening Paper” was third in the line-up although all the presenters acknowledged Mr. Smith as a foundation researcher and advocate for the mass de-acidification of paper. The original Wei T’o product was one of the first on the market for the treatment of acidic paper and Mr. Smith spent a portion of his talk describing how he became interested in the science of paper de-acidification, explaining that even though a piece of paper is thin, penetrating the surface with an even distribution of an alkaline agent is not an easy task to accomplish, especially 30-40 years ago when the technology was not very advanced. Mr. Smith then went on to profile a new Wei T’o product, still in the development phase, called Paperguard which not only de-acidifies, but also protects paper from fungal growth and pests. It is a zinc-based process that is environmentally sustainable since the by-products of the process are recoverable.
The fourth presentation was by Fenella France “Taking the Measure: Treatment and Testing in Mass Deacidification” and started with a review of the Library of Congress’ research into the mass de-acidification process which began in the 1970’s and expanded in the 1990’s. While the Library of Congress has vast historical collections, they are also still taking in acidic collections from all over the world and their current mass de-acidification treats more late 20th and early 21st century books from India, Spain, USA, etc. than 19th century material. The initial goal for the Library’s research was to establish a process that would deposit an alkaline reserve that tripled the longevity of an item, Bookkeeper was selected and a treatment facility was installed on-site at the Madison building. Testing and quality control is ongoing, but Ms. France sees a real need for the library research community to do more independent testing and not rely on vendor sources since there is too much variation in test methods to allow for meaningful comparison of data. A single measure that could be applied across the different mass de-acidification processes would enhance the assessment process and allow for agreement on the definition of progress.
The final presentation was Nora Lockshin on behalf of Anna Friedman “Evaluating De-Acidification After 20 Years of Natural Aging”. Ms. Friedman’s research focused on a treatment group from a 1989-1991 project at the Smithsonian Institution Archives where over 500 architectural drawings out of a record group of over 2,000 were sent out for de-acidification with Wei T’o Soft Spray or an aqueous bath with Magnesium Bicarbonate. Ms. Friedman used surface pH testing and colorimetric measurements at 5 points across the front of a drawing to evaluate the long term effectiveness of the de-acidification treatments. The colorimetric evaluation did not show any trends, but the surface pH showed that the application of Wei T’o was very uneven across the surface of the document. This would make sense given the application process of Soft Spray. However, comparison with a control group showed that documents that had been treated for mass de-acidification did have a higher pH after 20 years of natural aging.
The open discussion that followed began with a submitted question
SubQ: Is spraying of individual items as effective?
A: Papersave and Paperguard cannot be applied singly- mass only
Q: (Emily Rainwater) As a user of post-Bookkeeper treated items, she finds a lot of residue from handling the books, e.g. turning pages.
A: (Burd)- The particulates should go away as the treated book ages. (France)- Early in the development of the Bookkeeper process the particles were fairly large; they’re smaller now, so the white powder problem should go away.
Q: (Eric Hansen)- Italian conservators and others have complained that Bookkeeper changes the feel of the paper. Will Bookkeper address this question in a direct way so that this issue can be settled?
A: (Burd)- People really shouldn’t be able to tell, he has spray with him and offered to let people spray samples of paper and feel for themselves. The particle size is small and the quality control protocol of mass de-acidification is rigorous. (Smith)- Is particle size really the issue? Are we measuring what we think we’re measuring in terms of quality control? The TAPPI tests that we generally use are a standard, but are not precise to our need.
Q: (John Batty)- What does Mr. Burd mean by “pure” alkaline reserve?
A: (Burd)The magnesium that Bookkeeper uses is of high purity, but also there is no residue of other treatment fluids after the process is completed since the Bookkeeper process is full recovery.
Q: (John Batty)- To Mr. Smith: are you planning to treat artist’s materials to a specific pH?
A:(Smith) Not just to a specific pH, but also using zinc to ensure fungal and pest prevention.
Q: (Johanna P) To M. Burd, how is the benefit to ink measured, given that iron gal ink is supposed to stay acidic? Also, what about the color change or yellowing of treated items?
A: (Burd) If you have an ink you want to stay acidic, don’t treat it with a de-acidification process. If you want to stabilize iron gall ink and protect the substrate as well, then the Bookkeper process can be directed toward strengthening of paper.
A: (Ramin)- Non aqueous is better treatment since the paper is not as stressed.
A: (Smith): Commenting on paper yellowing after treatment by Wei T’o; he took yellowing as a sign of effectiveness since it demonstrated penetration of spray (this was in the early days) but don’t give up on de-acidification, work on delivery of the alkaline reserve.
A: (Burd)- Commenting on yellowing- Since the Bookkeeper process doesn’t use a solvent, there shouldn’t be any yellowing. Some researchers have spotted yellowing due to aging of magnesium, but Burd thinks the books would probably have yellowed anyway, so the magnesium application just changes the characteristics of the yellowing. Burd went on to comment that yellowing is only present in artificially aged paper samples, and that 20 years is not long enough for real time aging to be conclusive.
A: (Ramin) Papersave tests show some yellowing in ground wood and to comment on mold remediation, the Papersave drying process kills mold, which is a side benefit. Once treated, collections tend to have better storage conditions, so mold is less likely to grow again
A: (Smith)- Zinc has potential for mold and pest prevention in addition to mass de-acidification.
A: (Burd)- Alkalization does help with mold prevention
Q: (Ursula ?): Could there be more natural aging studies? To Ms. France, given ten years of using Bookkeeper, are you doing any studies? To Ms. Lockshin: were the treated papers stored differently?
A: (France)- Yes, the Library of Congress is initiating a long term study.
A: (Lockshin) all treated drawings were encapsulated and then opened for analysis but were otherwise stored together.
Q: (Cathleen Baker): the audience knows a lot about the complexity of paper, but the ads and trade lit is a little unsophisticated and implies that mass treatment should be readily applied, whereas selection is a more complex process. What about the effect of mass de-acidification on lignin?
A: (Burd)- This has been reported in literature, but if you attack lignin you will make paper weaker, to prevent this effect, don’t select items that are brittle where the lignin or cellulose is already weak, they can’t be rebuilt by mass de-acidification.
A: (Lockshin) Commented that the Smithsonian receives many reference calls, people have seen an ad for a product and want information on its effectiveness.
Q: (Renate Mesmer) The Folger Library has just started a Bookkeeper project and wanted to comment that handling of books for the Bookkeeper process is extreme, given the fanning out and agitation. They have also found very high amounts of white deposits, and given these high amounts of surface deposits, is anything going to the core of the paper?
A: (Burd)- Since we don’t use solvents we have to fan the books so that the alkaline particles can make their way into the paper. If a book is too delicate for the mass process, then use the single item process. Distressed to hear that there are a lot of white deposits. Porosity of the paper is the dependent factor on penetration, but acids migrate toward the alkaline particles so this shouldn’t ultimately be a problem.
AIC’s 40th Annual Meeting- “Assessing Risks to Your Collections” Workshop with Robert Waller, May 8th, 2012
I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a workshop at the beginning of the 2012 AIC Conference with Robert Waller entitled, “Assessing Risks to Your Collections”. I decided to attend this particular course because many museums struggle with creating preservation priorities for their collections and this task is daunting to both small and large museums. Risk assessment tools can assist in identifying priorities for collections care and a museum can in turn invest strategically in projects to protect collections from hazards both in the present and future. I hoped to gain an understanding of risk management tools to better assist future preservation planning in my own museum and to relate the information I gained to the members of the Museum Association of Arizona, a museum organization that helped support my registration.
The workshop began at 9am and, in regular workshop fashion, participants began to introduce themselves to the group. This, of course, enabled participants to get comfortable with one another in order to start the business of learning about risk assessment. There was a large constituency of Latin American Scholars present at the workshop, as well as other international attendees from places like Haiti and Korea. Attendees were also diverse in specialties which included photographs, objects, paintings, textiles, as well as different levels of education including some pre-program students, but all of course had an interest in the preservation of cultural heritage. I was fortunate to have been in a group of both intelligent and friendly people that were willing to discuss and work together on all of the exercises.
Robert Waller introduced the overall objective and methods he would be using in order for participants to quickly learn the materials in this intense one day workshop. He was patient in describing each step, but also moved the workshop along to get in as much information as possible in such a short amount of time. The main goal of the workshop was to demonstrate the Cultural Property Risk Analysis Model. By identifying risks to collections using this tool, museums can target resources more efficiently through strategic planning. More specifically, the workshop enabled participants to:
- Identify risks – by ”agent of deterioration” and “type of risk”.
- Define risks clearly.
- Assess the magnitude of defined risks.
- Evaluate data and present information to stakeholders.
Systematically plan risk mitigation strategies by:
- Identifying means of control – methods and levels.
- Evaluating costs/risks/benefits of mitigation strategies.
The workshop was extremely interactive(not for the shy)and participants learned through a variety of means including lectures, demonstrations, brainstorming in small groups, group presentations, exercises, practice, and discussions. Small prizes were utilized to further motivate the groups (my group got chocolate!!). A well composed manual with a shiny protective cover was given to all participants. The manual consisted of all the course content exercises, references and a glossary of terms which I know will be a good resource and was much appreciated.
One of my favorite exercises was estimating the magnitude of risk to the display cases at the Albuquerque convention center. Each group was assigned their own case which encompassed a variety of materials and preservation issues. The groups worked together to calculate the magnitude of risk by using all of the steps worked out in class. We had to define the specific risks in our case, determine the fraction of susceptibility, the loss in value, the probability of occurrence, and the extent to which the susceptible is affected. This exercise really helped me put together all of the components discussed in the workshop lectures. Working with the other participants was also very valuable as they had differing opinions and it was necessary to work together to come to a consensus, much like in a real life scenario working with other museum colleagues. This gave participants a realistic view of what is involved in performing a risk assessment and gave a level of comfort in using what was learned.
In the end, I feel like I have a much better grasp of assessing risks to collections and will be able to more effectively communicate these risks in a way that will be useful to facilitate strategic preservation planning. This model of comprehensive analysis of risks can provide a guide for appropriate actions in order to effectively mitigate the rate of loss to a collection. All of the information provided during the workshop will be very useful to me and I hope to use these strategies in the near future and share them with my colleagues.
AIC’s 40th Annual Meeting, Book and Paper Session, May 10, “True Love Forever: Preserving the Legacy of Norman ‘Sailor Jerry’ Collins”
Presented by Samantha Sheesley, Paper Conservator at the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts
“Good work ain’t cheap and cheap work ain’t good.” This is one of many pearls of wisdom from Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins, a colorful man and visionary artist whose unique style (a hybrid of American design and Japanese colors) and innovation (he developed the first non-fugitive purple tattoo ink and designed the magnum needle) made him the most important figure in American tattoo art. The CCAHA recently undertook conservation treatment on Collins’ flash art, acetate stencils, and preliminary drawings, which are currently on exhibition in London.
Collins was a sailor in the Navy and it was while he was stationed in the Pacific that he befriended Japanese tattoo masters and developed his love of tattooing, sailing history, and Asian philosophy. A feature documentary about Sailor Jerry was produced in 2007; Sheesley played the documentary’s trailer as part of her presentation, which I really enjoyed – it was nice to hear Collins speaking in his own voice about his work and to see more images of his art.
Collins longed for the day when tattooing would be respected as art and he was committed to using high-quality materials. His flash art, the drawings posted on the wall of tattoo parlors for customers to choose from, were done with fine inks and watercolors on cotton wove paper; the colors on these drawings remain vibrant and the flash art required little treatment beyond removal of pressure sensitive tape from the back. The acetate stencils, which were used to transfer designs onto the customer’s body, are artifacts of a lost practice, since these stencils are created digitally now. Creating acetate stencils was typically the first task of a tattoo apprentice. Treatment of the stencils included surface cleaning and mechanical removal of adhesive residue. The preliminary drawings, custom designs, and sketches are crayon and charcoal rubbings and drawings on thin tracing paper. These were quite fragile and required extensive mending. All of the art was housed in sealed packages for safe travel, storage, and display in preparation for worldwide exhibition.
This project provided many opportunities for outreach, including news articles, exhibitions, presentations, and videos, that connect with a wide range of audiences. For conservators, Sheesley’s talk was an opportunity to learn more about the art of tattooing – it’s history, technique, and materials. She has also had the chance to speak with tattoo enthusiasts, who are very interested in and knowledgeable about the art, and teach them about conservation treatment and how to care for their designs.
W. Grant & Sons, the company that now owns the Sailor Jerry name (which is used to market a variety of products including a popular spiced rum), recently opened a venue in London called Hotel Street, named after the location of Collins’ tattoo parlor in Honolulu. The Sailor Jerry art is currently on exhibition at Hotel Street and Sheesely traveled to London to speak about the conservation treatment. W. Grant & Sons also has a collection of letters and manuscripts in the Sailor Jerry archives, which will soon make their way to the CCAHA for treatment.
AIC’s 40th Annual Meeting, Book and Paper Session, May 10, “The Populist Conservator: A Sticky Case Study”
Presented by Whitney Baker, Head, Conservation Services, University of Kansas Libraries
This talk was an excellent tie-in with the overall AIC theme of outreach & advocacy. Baker’s recent research into the history and preservation of bumper stickers challenged her views of the conservation profession and how we are perceived by the public; in addition to highlighting some of her research findings, Baker used this talk to challenge conservators to think more broadly about the work they do and the image they project and to encourage grassroots approaches to connecting with the public.
Baker embarked on this investigation after noticing a patron in the KU Library reading room looking at a collection of bumper stickers. Not finding anything in the conservation literature about bumper stickers, Baker took a 5 month sabbatical (many in the audience were envious of this!) to conduct research into their materials and production. Though bumper stickers are not likely to find their way into a conservation lab for full treatment, they are important pieces of 20th century ephemera so Baker focused on proposing low-cost, practical storage options for these collections.
Baker surveyed over 2,000 bumper stickers from collections in Kansas, Texas, and Washington, D.C. Political bumper stickers are some of the most common found in collections and are useful because they’re easily datable. Baker was able to trace the origins of the bumper sticker back to Kansas; Forest P. Gill, a screen printer from Kansas City, printed the first bumper stickers onto canvas in the 1940s. Bumper stickers became an extremely popular form of advertising post-World War II. Experiments with war materials like vinyl, silicone, and Day-Glo inks made it possible to mass produce eye-catching, weather-resistant, (sometimes) easily removable stickers. An expanding highway system and increased leisure travel meant that these small “moving billboards” could be seen across the country.
Almost all bumper stickers are screen-printed. Early bumper stickers were printed on paper, but these were not weather-friendly and were difficult to remove cleanly. Vinyl was promoted as a body stock in the 1950s and caught on in the 1960s; it was much more durable and removeable than the paper stock and since the lifespan of a bumper sticker was really only intended to be 2-4 weeks, this removability became a selling point. The liners on the back of bumper stickers, intended to protect the adhesive until the sticker is used, are coated with silicone and often contain a wealth of information for researchers, including dates, location, manufacturing and patent information.
Preservation challenges posed by bumper stickers include off-gassing, discoloration, shrinkage, and adhesion to adjacent materials. Baker recommends that bumper stickers be stored individually in alkaline folders; for those that no longer have their liner attached or are especially sticky, interleaving with silicone release paper is a good option. Storing them in polyester film can be problematic; she noticed that some of the more recent stickers with polymer-based inks were blocked to the polyester film.
Baker encouraged her audience to take every opportunity for outreach. Though some in the profession warned her that she wouldn’t be taken seriously if she pursued her research into bumper stickers, the public was certainly interested in the topic and word about the project spread in a variety of outlets, including news articles and a YouTube video. She also has an article coming out in the most recent issue of Collections. [Full citation for the article, which will eventually be available online in the KU institutional repository: Baker, Whitney. 2011. Soapbox for the automobile: Bumper sticker history, identification, and preservation. Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals 7(3): 251-270.]
Baker’s tips for successful outreach:
1. Know your collections and what people use. This project was sparked by observing patrons in the reading room.
2. Identify a need.
3. Control the message. In the blogosphere, it can be hard to control where the message ends up, but try to be consistent in what you’re saying.
4. Create soundbites.
5. Be accessible. Avoid jargon. Baker quoted her husband on this one: “Stop talking about off-gassing!”
6. Consider your audience.
Baker challenged us to take off our white lab coats for a while, use the fascinating parts of our profession (of which there are many!) to reach out to people, and become more populist conservators.
AIC’s 40th Annual Meeting – Book and Paper Session, May 10: “Treatment Considerations for the Haggadah Prayer Book: Evaluation of Two Antioxidants for Treatment of Copper Containing Inks and Colorants” by Season Tse, Maria Trojan-Bedynski, and Doris St. Jacques
Season Tse of CCI reported on collaborative research conducted with co-authors Maria Trojan-Bedynski and Doris St. Jacques. The research was designed to investigate treatment possibilities for an 18th-century Haggadah prayer book from the collections of Library and Archives Canada.
The Haggadah text is written on handmade, laid paper in iron gall ink with decoration and drawings in red and blue pigments and a green copper pigment. The green copper pigment was analyzed and identified as atacamite—not the verdigris they had expected. Over time, both the iron gall ink and the atacamite have contributed to significant deterioration of the paper.
The Haggadah was previously treated at the Library in 1987. At that time, breaks in the paper support were repaired with tissue and a carboxymethylcellulose adhesive. Initially, the treatment was to include treatment with magnesium bicarbonate applied on the suction table. Because feathering of pigments occurred during application, however, this treatment was halted, and the remaining leaves were instead deacidified with WeiT’o.
Although the 1987 treatment slowed ink corrosion, evidence of continued discoloration and breaks resulting from the iron gall ink and green copper pigment convinced conservators that the treatment was insufficient. Research was designed to determine if a non-aqueous antioxidant treatment could provide a safe and effective means to further slow deterioration of the Haggadah.
Test samples were created by applying iron gall ink, an iron-copper ink, atacamite, and verdigris to Whatman paper. All of the samples were pre-aged, then treated with WeiT’o and Bookkeeper alone and in combination with the antioxidants TBAB and EMIMBr.
Following treatment, half of the samples were heat-aged. All of the samples were then tested to identify any change in color, pH, and tensile strength.
Tse was not able to present all of the results in the allotted presentation time, but she reassured the audience that all details will be included in the paper submitted to the BPG Annual following the conference.
Tse first presented the results for the iron gall ink samples. The inks treated with WeiT’o appeared darker and more saturated, while the inks treated with Bookkeeper appeared lighter. Both WeiT’o and Bookkeeper raised the pH of the inks, but neither fully neutralized them. The pH did not fall after heat-aging. Deacidification did improve paper strength, but not enough to be considered sufficient for treatment. The antioxidant treatments did not contribute to an increase in paper strength.
The results of deacidification and antioxidant treatments differed for the atacamite samples. The two samples treated with a combination of an antioxidant and Bookkeeper (TBAB and then Bookkeeper, and EMIMBr and then Bookkeeper) showed the least color change of the pigment after heat-aging. Unlike the ink samples, for atacamite, deacidification did not improve paper strength, while the antioxidant treatment did improve paper strength.
For now, antioxidant treatment has not been undertaken for the Haggadah because Tse and her co-authors determined that neither of the tested antioxidants sufficiently benefitted the acidic iron gall ink. Tears and breaks in the manuscript were stabilized using a remoistenable Berlin tissue coated with gelatin and reactivated with a combination of ethanol and water.