Annotated Bibliography for Paper Conservation Treatments

General

Gascoigne, Bamber. How to Identify Prints: A Complete Guide to Manual and Mechanical Processes From Woodcut to Inkjet. 2nd ed. London: Thames and Hudson, 2004. Gascoigne provides a comprehensive guide for the identification of prints.  He describes the various types of prints, visual evidence that can aid the identification, and provides a print vocabulary that defines terminology for families of prints.

Hunter, Dard. Papermaking: The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft. 1947. 2nd ed. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1978. Written by what the back cover touts as “the most ardent proponent of the craft of papermaking who ever lived”, this book provides an extensive and detailed chronology of the history of papermaking.  In addition to providing a history, Hunter also discusses the development and use of different materials and tools and provides over 320 illustrations.

Laroque, Claude. “History and Analysis of Transparent Papers.” The Journal of Paper Conservation 28 (2004): 17-32. This article provides an excellent overview of the history and identification of transparent papers.  Laroque investigates parchment, vegetable parchment paper, and modern transparent papers such as glassine, true tracing paper, imitation parchment and impregnated papers.  In addition to this historical overview, Laroque employs three analytical methods (scanning electron microscopy, fiber analysis and gas chromatography) as a means to identify different types of transparent papers in a sample group.

Pearlstein, E. J., et al. “Effects of Eraser Treatment on Paper.” Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 22.1 (1982): 1-12. This study is broken into two parts.  The first part looks at the composition and aging behavior of four dry cleaning products (Opaline Pad, Pink Pearl, Magic Rub, and Kneaded Rubber erasers) and the second examines how paper is affected by the use of these products.  The Opaline Pad, Pink Pearl and Kneaded Rubber erasers were determined to have a similar composition of a vulcanized vegetable oil known industrially as factice.  The Magic Rub eraser was significantly different in composition than the other erasers in that it’s IR spectra showed the plasticizer dicotyl phthalate as the dominate plasticizer.  The second part of this article examined the affect of the use of these products on the surface abrasion, folding endurance, tensile strength, and surface pH of Whatman chromatography paper number 1.  It concluded that these products altered the paper surface, but did not change the mechanical properties of the paper.  The Pink Pearl and Kneaded Rubber erasers altered the paper surface the most, resulting in abrasion of the surface, decreased wettability, altered surface color, and an increase in pH.  The Magic Rub eraser altered the paper the least with negligible abrasion and color change, and no change in the surface pH or wetting ability.

Smith, Christine. “Inpainting/Paper Art: Using Mixed Dry Pigments and Complementary Colors.” The Book and Paper Group Annual 17 (1998): 103-109. Smith outlines the use of mixed dry pigments to inpaint or overpaint to reduce the appearance of stains or mends.  She discusses the importance of complementary colors and provides techniques for application.  Benefits of the use of dry pigments include a high degree of reversibility and a lack of bleeding of the pigment into the paper.

Townshend, Piers. “Toning with ‘Paper Extract.’” The Paper Conservator 26 (2002): 21-25. This article provides a discussion of the use of concentrated oxidation products, washed out of degraded and discolored paper, to tone paper.  A simple pH test showed that the extract was neutral.  In addition, the author claims that application of paper extract is reversible with the aid of a suction table.  Homemade paper extract will vary greatly according to the type of paper, paste residues, animal glues, sizing agents, etc. present in the paper.  The author provides three case studies that use paper extracts for toning, but admits that further testing, such as X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) is still needed.

Trujillo, Frank. “Towards a Lining Decision: An Examination of Three Alternative Lining Techniques.” Unpublished research paper, 6 Dec. 2000. Trujillo discusses the appropriate use of lining as a conservation treatment, concerns with paper and media, and outlines the use and advantages of three different lining methods (suction table lining, flat board lining, and open frame lining).  He also provides a helpful list of questions to ask when deciding to use lining as a treatment.

Verheyen, Peter, Carolyn Davis, and Debra Olson. “Storage of Architectural Materials at the Syracuse University Libraries.” The Book and Paper Group Annual 22 (2003): 131-136. When the Syracuse University Library’s Department of Special Collections acquired a new collection of architectural drawings, it required them to create a new storage system that was compact, scalable, economical, and archivally sound.  In this paper, they describe the challenges, preservation, cost, and space issues that they needed to address in order to move away from “Plan Hold” cabinets to a less damaging “tube within a tube” storage system.  In this new system, materials were wrapped around an inner acid-free tube, then wrapped with a protective enclosure (usually Mylar), and then inserted into a larger acid-free tube allowing the package to be stored horizontally.  Fifty-six tubes were nested within an open vertical storage unit, creating a honeycomb type configuration that allowed for high storage density in a relatively small area.

Watkins, Stephanie. “Practical Considerations for Humidifying and Flattening Paper.” The Book and Paper Group Annual 21 (2002): 61-76. This article provides an excellent overview of various humidification (ultrasonic, chamber, damp blotter, Gore-Tex and Teflon packs, mist or spray, and local application) and flattening (air-drying, blotter and felt stacks, friction mounts, Dutch strainer, and vacuum-suction table) techniques.  In addition to the discussion of each technique, Watkins provides great illustrations and describes issues such as maintaining original order, media and colored papers, mold-damaged papers, etc. that could potentially pose complications when humidifying and flattening items.

Media

Dube, Liz. “The Copying Pencil: Composition, History and Conservation Implications.” The Book and Paper Group Annual 17 (1998): 45-52. The Pencil Pages. Ed. Doug Martin. 2006. 9 July 2006 <http://www.pencilpages.com//-05.html>. Online version of Liz Dube’s 1998 article in the Book and Paper Group Annual which discusses the composition and use of copy pencils as well as complications that can arise during conservation treatments.  Dube provides a brief background on the manufacture of copy pencils and talks about their composition and use as a copying device.  Using a variety of copy pencils Dube explores how the use of conservation treatments such as humidification, erasure, and various solvents baths (water, ethanol, acetone, and toluene) will affect artifacts marked with copy pencil.

Eusman, Elmer, et al. The Ink Corrosion Website.  9 July 2006 <http://www.knaw.nl/ecpa/ink/>. Website hosted by the European Commission on Preservation and Access in Amsterdam that provides information on the history, ingredients, manufacture, chemical reactions, deterioration, and conservation of iron gall ink.  The site is updated regularly and provides references to pertinent literature and links to other websites about iron gall ink.

Reissland, Birgit. “Ink Corrosion Aqueous and Non-Aqueous Treatment of Paper Objects - State of the Art.” Restaurator 20 (1999): 167-180. This article examines both the positive and negative aspects of a variety of aqueous and non-aqueous treatments used to retard iron gall ink corrosion.  The aqueous treatments discussed include water (purified water, tap water, increased temperatures, boiling, and water-alcohol mixtures), deacidification (calcium bicarbonate, calcium hydroxide, and magnesium bicarbonate), iron-chelating agents (EDTA, calcium phytate) and others (electrolysis, ammonium caseinate).  The non-aqueous treatments discussed include deacidification (magnesium carbonate plus an organic solvent – Wei’To, magnesium oxide plus an organic solvent – Bookkeeper) and others (iron-chelating agent plus an organic solvent).

Mold

Florian, Mary-Lou. Fungal Facts: Solving Fungal Problems in Heritage Collections. London: Archetype Publications, 2004. Florian provides an extensive description of what fungi are, where they come from, how they grow and develop, how they can affect collections materials, outlines preventive measures, and discusses recovery options for a collection affected by a mold infestation.

- -. Heritage Eaters: Insects and Fungi in Heritage Collections. London: James & James, 1997. This book examines the problems that insect and fungi pests pose to the storage of heritage objects.  Florian provides a review of the environmental parameters that influence infestations, suggests eradication methods and outlines how to establish an integrated insect pest control program. She is very thorough in her explanation of the life-cycle of both pests and fungi.

Price, Lois Olcott. Managing a Mold Invasion: Guidelines for Disaster Response. Philadelphia: Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, 1994. This is a short guide that discusses mold prevention, first response actions, inactivation procedures, cleaning techniques and health concerns.   Although written with a general audience in mind this guide provides useful tips about working with books and paper objects in a moldy situation.

Tomazello, Maria Guimar Carneiro, and Frederico Maximiliano Wiendl. “The Applicability of Gamma Radiation to the Control of Fungi in Naturally Contaminated Paper.” Restaurator 16 (1995): 93-99. This paper explores the applicability of gamma radiation to control the spore phase of fungi in naturally contaminated papers and the use of pre-treatments (drying in an oven, moistening in an oven, and drying at room temperature) on papers to reduce the amount of radiation needed for inactivation.  It concluded that higher doses of radiation reduced the number of fungi and that the pH of the paper affected the presence and development of the fungi.  The study of pre-treatments showed that reduction of substrate moisture and fungi structures by dry heat decreases fungi resistance to gamma radiation.

Washing

Bogaard, John, and Paul M. Whitmore. “Effects of Dilute Calcium Washing Treatments on Paper.” Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 40 (2001): 105-123. This study explored the effects of three different calcium solutions (calcium hydroxide, bicarbonate, and chloride) abilities to retard deterioration in a pure cellulose paper.  The authors performed 5 experiments in which they examined the effects of the solutions on thermally aged and photo-oxidized papers. The authors concluded that the chemical stability of the treated papers depended more on the alkalinity of the treatment rather than the presence of calcium and that papers that were photo-oxidized were harder to stabilize than unoxidized papers.

Cullhead, Per. “An Alternative Immersion Technique.” The Paper Conservator 22 (1998): 62-64. This article outlines the use of a Mylar envelope to immerse a drawing in a solvent.  This technique is an alternative to the common open immersion techinique, uses less solvent, and exposes the conservator to less of a potentially harmful solvent. The clear envelope allows the item to be viewed during treatment and can be flipped to the opposite side during immersion.  Cullhead notes that possible dangers of this technique may arise from delicate surfaces not being able to withstand the solvent and the friction from the Mylar.

Tse, Season, et al. “The Effect of Simmering on the Chemical and Mechanical Properties of Paper.” Restaurator 26 (2005): 14-35. This article examines the chemical and mechanical effects of subjecting paper to 90-95°C simmering water.  The study used a linen rag book paper and Whatman # 40 filter paper and simmered each in alkaline water for 15 minutes.  The samples and controls were then thermally aged and tested for degree of polymerization, moisture content, pH, fold endurance, tear strength, and color.  The authors concluded that simmering for 15minutes did not damage the chemical or mechanical properties of the sample papers.