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Rare
Book Conservation
We
treat a wide range of bound material including
medieval manuscripts and early printed books,
modern books, Bibles, scrapbooks and
pamphlets. Conservation may include re-housing
in custom-designed boxes and basic stabilization
or full treatment with aqueous washing,
deacidification, re-sewing and rebinding.
Treatment options are based on a thorough
examination of the book, its intended use and
how it will be stored. Whenever possible, a
book’s original materials are integrated into
the treatment. For example, original boards may
be reused, fragments of the original spine may
be mounted onto a new spine, or original
endpapers with inscriptions and bookplates may
be retained. Books with covers too deteriorated
for reuse are rebound in a style sympathetic to
the original binding or to the period of the
printed text.
Equally important to preserving the appearance
of a book is a sewing and binding structure that
is sound and flexible. Our goal is to produce
books that open easily with minimal strain on
the sewing, spine and board attachment. Durable,
high-quality materials are used exclusively in
the conservation and restoration process. Such
materials may include leather, book cloths,
linen threads and cord, alkaline buffered
machine-made papers, hand-made papers and
Japanese papers.
In
accordance with international conservation
standards, materials and techniques used are
reversible. Treatments are documented with
written and photographic records.
Photo-documentation is provided to the client
upon request.
Treatment Options for Books, Bibles,
Pamphlets and Other Bound Materials:
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Surface-cleaning to remove surface dirt and
dust
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Mold removal
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Removing mending tapes and adhesive residues
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Mending tears with either Japanese paper and
starch paste adhesive, solvent-set tissue or heat-set tissue
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Re-sewing loose pages
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De-acidification / alkalization of acidic
papers
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Aqueous washing to remove ingrained dirt and
to reduce acidity and stains
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Restoration of leather, cloth, paper or
vellum covers
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Gold or blind tooling historic, period
styles
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Books with deteriorated covers rebound in a
similar style and material
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Custom-designed housing such as drop-spine
boxes and four-flap enclosures
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