Submitted by: Rhonda Why is this item important to you?: Passed from grandparents to myself Expert Advice: (Provided by Todd Pattison) Your Bible is covered in embossed leather (either sheep leather or patent leather); the decoration and title have been stamped into the leather. This would appear to be a case binding with false raised bands on the spine. Condition: The Bible is in poor condition with the front board detached and the sewing broken; the text block is now in at least two pieces and there may be loose pages. Recommendations: You will need to limit handling as much as possible with the Bible in this condition. A book conservator or bookbinder could treat the Bible, resewing the loose pages and then repairing the binding. They should be able to keep the present binding, putting new material underneath the original covering so the Bible will look the same but will be structurally sound. There is a Find a Conservator page on the AIC website that allows you to search for a conservator by specialty and location; if you find a bookbinder to do the work make sure they have treated similar items and can communicate the treatment plan for this volume. If you don’t have the Bible treated, you should have a custom enclosure created to protect the Bible. There are several styles of custom enclosures, including cloth-covered, drop-spine boxes and phase boxes (there are several styles of phase boxes). The key to any enclosure is that it fit the volume exactly. If you measure this yourself you need to make sure that you find the largest square dimension, as the box will be square even if the volume is not. The cloth-covered box can be made by a conservator or bookbinder while phase boxes are usually ordered from a vendor. You do not mention any manuscript material within the volume, some Bibles had printed pages for vital records, often located between the Old and New Testaments. If there are any manuscript records you should get high-quality scan made of those pages. This will allow you to make copies that can be shared with other interested people and having additional copies will preserve the information in case anything happens to the original. You may also want to consider adding a folder to the boxed volume for genealogical information or even the provenance of the volume for future generations. Handling and storage: When handling the volume, you should wash your hands with soap and water but not wear gloves. Gloves will lower the feeling in your fingers so it would be more likely that you would damage the object; cotton gloves, especially, will catch on the worn surface of the leather causing further damage. You should always place volumes in a cradle so as not to stress them when handling, but particular attention needs to be paid to the handling of this volume given the condition; it should be handled as little as possible. There are foam supports that are available to cradle the split text block so as not to stress the remaining sewing, but you can also just use clean towels or pillows. You mention that the Bible is currently stored flat and that is the best way to store it given the age and condition, even if you do have it conserved and boxed. The Bible should be stored out of the light in an area that has temperature and humidity controls. Higher temperatures and swings in relative humidity will speed up the chemical processes that are breaking down this object.
Submitted by: Wendy Why is this item important to you?: So many photos of grands, greats and great great grandparents and family. I feel very fortunate to have something like this. Expert Advice: (Provided by Stephanie Call) The photographs in the scrapbook look to be in very good condition, but I understand the concern you have for the black paper of the scrapbook. I have a couple of different suggestions for you, and which one you choose really depends on how attached you are to having them in a scrapbook format. Regardless of what you choose, I suggest you digitize the pages of your scrapbook. 1) The first recommendation would be to disbind the scrapbook and sleeve each leaf in its own acid-free folder, keeping the pages in order. You can then lay the folders flat in an archival box. Keeping each page in the folder will also benefit any items that might be coming loose, as they will just come loose in a folder, and that is unlikely to cause further damage. If photographs are coming loose, you can also sleeve them in photo enclosures, which I talk a little bit about, below. I recommend Gaylord Archival or Hollinger Metal Edge for archival materials. The box and folders should be of similar size to the size of the scrapbook and the scrapbook pages. 2) The second recommendation is if you would rather the scrapbook stay in something akin to its original format. There is black support paper you can purchase (you will want to make sure the paper is marked “P.A.T” for Photographic Activity Test) or you can purchase a new, acid free scrapbook. Of course, this will depend greatly on how easy it might be for you to remove the photographs from the existing backing. You would just want to make sure to keep, in folders, any pages with notations. Kolo is a good source of high-quality, archival scrapbooks and albums; you can also purchase these through Hollinger Metal Edge or Gaylord Archival. Photo corners work well for placing photographs back on the page. Some general considerations for handling scrapbooks: Handling: When handling the scrapbook, make sure your hands are clean and you’re not wearing any lotions or hand sanitizer. Do not wear gloves, as gloves don’t give people enough grip with paper, and you risk damaging pages further. Make sure the area you showcase it in or on is clean. Reformatting: Limiting hands-on access to it is the best way to ensure this scrapbook is preserved for years to come. If you keep the scrapbook bound, you may want to consider digitizing the book using an overhead scanner (you can have this done professionally) to create digital surrogates of each page- which will also allow other family members to enjoy the scrapbook from afar! If professional digitization services are not feasible, you can take photographs of each page. If you disbind the book, you can digitize each page (carefully!) on a flatbed scanner. Storage: Always keep the scrapbook in an area with stable temperatures and humidity; away from light sources; and, always lie the pages or book flat. Photo Enclosures: You can place your photos in archival quality plastic sleeves made of polyester, propylene or polyethylene, or a paper enclosure. Any photograph enclosures you use to house your photos should pass the P.A.T. test. Envelopes for photographs should be acid-free and lignin-free. Paper enclosures protect from light and you can also write on them, which is a bonus! Your photo enclosures should be as close to the size of the photograph as possible.
