View Treatment Report as a Word document
| Date Examined: |
September 25, 2006 |
| Date Completed: |
December 1 , 2006 |
| Conservator: |
Melissa Straw |
| Instructor: |
Chela Metzger |
| Owner/Custodian: |
Personal Collection |
| Author: |
William Ward |
| Title: |
A View of the History, Literature, and Religion, of The Hindoos: Including a Minute Descriptions of their Manners and Customs |
| Imprint: |
1824 |
| Binding Dimensions (cm): |
H:
18.1
W:
11.0
T: 4.0 |
| Text block Dimensions (cm): |
H: 17.8 W: 10.9 T: 3.5 |
Treatment Objective
To stabilize book for safe handling. To explore treatment options for special collections materials.
Description and Condition Summary
Boards and covering materials:
The book was originally bound in full-leather with laced-on rigid binder’s boards and a tight back. The front board is entirely missing. The remaining leather on the back board and spine is sheepskin that has been abraded on all four corners. The leather on the back joint is abraded away entirely although the board to text attachment is still intact due to the two laced-on supports. The remaining paste down is completely detached from the back cover. The leather on the spine has been gold tooled. It is split down the entire length of the spin approximately 1 cm from the title page. The leather on the spine is abraded at the head and tail. The head and tail have 45 degree angle cuts removed on the spine side. The two remaining corners are slightly bend and delaminating.
Text:
The textblock has been moderately rounded and backed. The spine is lined with paper. The paper lining is split at the same location as the leather on the spine.
The textblock was sewn all along with two sawed-in cords. The cords remain and the sewing is mainly intact except for two splits at pages 120 and 132.
The edges of the textblock are trimmed and are colored yellow. The edge treatment at the head is extremely dirty and soiled. No endbands remain and the tight-back nature of the remaining spine material suggests none existed.
The paper is in variable condition. The text is printed on machine-made wove paper that has become brittle with age.
The text was printed in black in on a medium-weight, beige, machine-made, paper with little sizing. The paper is moderately discolored throughout the text. Foxing, surface dirt and stains are visible throughout. The title page is torn on the lower right hand corner. There is a faint signature at the top of the title page still visible. It was written in graphite and an attempt was made to erase it.
Photodocumentation
Before and After Treatment: Digital photographs in ambient light
Treatment Proposal
Option 1: Least invasive
-
Repair back cover
-
Surface clean text block
-
Clean and consolidate text block
Option 2: Most invasive
-
Dis-bind
-
Wash text
-
Re-sew
- Create new case
Treatment Performed
-
Mechanically removed leather from spine with a micro-spatula. Using a poultice of methyl cellulose, the remainder of the spine and lining glue was removed.
-
Detached back board from text block.
-
Pulled sections of book wet with a layer of methyl cellulose on the spine to facilitate ease of motions and limit tearing the spine folds.
- Washed the back 1/3 of text block in two successive alkaline baths of approximately 8.5 – 9.5 pH.
-
Dried washed sections on holly-tex for 48 hours.
-
Pressed washed and unwashed sections overnight.
- Using tengujo and wheat starch paste, guarded approximately ¼ of sections in preparation for re-sewing.
- Prepared new endsheet folio for front of textblock with handmade Western style Barrett paper. Also guarded endsheet for sewing. The endsheets at the back of the textblock were retained.
- Re-sewed book using two strands of Irish linen thread and two 5-ply linen cord. Sewing pattern used supported kettle stitches and all along sewing pattern.
- Lined textblock along the spine with tengujo and wheat starch paste. This was followed by a lining of airplane cotton non-overhanging cloth. Finally, between the kettle stitches and sewing stations, handmade Western Barrett paper was adhered using PVA.
- Made book cloth from airplane linen painted with acrylics on both sides and lined with lens tissue.
- Made case without a spine lining out of two new pieces of binder’s board and the painted airplane linen.
- Cut off supported kettle stitches thread and support at the top of the shoulder and frayed out linen cord from sewing stations. Pasted cords onto endsheets in preparation for casing in.
- Cased-in textblock and using Velcro boards, an ace bandage and a finishing press, adhered the spine of the case to the spine of the textblock to assure a tight back.
- Created a paper label using MS Word for the spine. Coated label with Klucel G and allowed to dry before adhering with PVA.
Materials Used
PVA
Methyl cellulose
Wheat starch paste
Klucel G
Acrylics
Binder’s board
Airplane cotton
Airplane linen
Lens tissue
Holly-tex
Handmade Western Barrett paper
Tengujo
Irish linen thread
Linen cord
