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Treatment Report
- Date Examined: 10/5/08
- Date Completed:
- Conservator: Rebecca Smyrl
- Instructor: Chela Metzger
- Collection: University of Texas Law Library
- Call Number: KFP 401 1776 A23 1825
- Author: Pennsylvania. Constitutional Convention
- Title: The proceedings relative to calling the conventions of 1776 and 1790: the minutes of the convention that formed the present constitution of Pennsylvania, together with the charter to William Penn, the constitutions of 1776 and 1790, and a view of the proceedings of the Convention of 1776, and the Council of censors.
- Imprint: 1825
- Dimensions (binding): 24.0h x 15.0w x 3.3t (cm)
- Dimensions (text block): 23.5h x 15.0w x 3.0t (cm)
Description and Condition of Book
Binding
The book is bound in a contemporary retail binding. It is a quarter style binding, with a beige paper covering the spine and blue paper the boards. The boards are binder’s board. The spine has a small beige paper label, stamped in black with an abbreviated title and two decorative lines. The upper board is detached from the text block; the lower board is tenuously attached, with just a few fragments of cord holding it to the text block. The spine covering paper and also the spine label have many vertical cracks and tears, and several areas of paper are either already missing from the spine, or close to being lost. The paper covering the boards is abraded at the edges and is liquid stained with tide lines. Both the spine paper and the board paper are fly-spotted overall. The corners are bent.
Board-to-text Attachment
The two sewing cords were frayed out and pasted to the insides of the boards beneath the paste downs to provide cover to text attachment. In addition, the end sheets may have been tipped and/or sewn to the text block. All but one of the sewing cords, and both of the end sheet folds are broken.
Text Block
The text block has a slight round and a shallow shoulder. The spine is smooth and appears to be lined only with the covering paper. This paper is weak and brittle. There are no end bands or evidence of end band attachment. The edges of the text block are untrimmed, and some remain uncut. The protruding untrimmed edges are darkened and fly-spotted. The edges are mildly sooty.
The text block is sewn through the fold on two sawn in single hemp cords in a two-on pattern. The sewing is in good condition.
The text block is made of handmade, cream (1), medium (1) weight, moderately textured (1) wove paper.1 The text is printed in black printer’s ink with a visible type impression. The paper is extremely discolored in the type area, and also shows some foxing, liquid staining, and accretion (most notably a large, flattened bug which has also stained several adjacent pages).
The end leaves are made of wove paper matching the text. The upper board has two paste downs which appear to have sewing between them, and then one loose leaf before the printed sections begin. The lower board has only one paste down, along with one loose blank leaf, and one blank leaf that is not part of the printed text. The pattern of conjugate end leaves is unclear.
There is a manuscript annotation in iron gall ink on the loose leaf at the front of the book. The ink has sunken through the paper and appears to have begun to deteriorate it.
Treatment Objective
The goal of this treatment is to re-establish and strengthen the connection between the book’s boards and its text block.
Treatment Proposal--Option A
- House book in a custom enclosure. This option will allow for safe use in a special collections context, and will allow for the minimum alteration of the book’s appearance possible.
Treatment Proposal--Option B (selected by client)
- Surface clean sooty text block edges; remove accretions.
- Lift spine label; line with long fiber paper for re-use.
- Lift paper at the spine edges of the boards.
- Re-attach boards to text block by adhering strips of long fiber paper across the joints. These strips will extend a few millimeters onto the board edges, beneath the lifted paper, and on the spine over the covering paper.
- Mend spine paper with patches of thin acrylic-toned long fiber paper as possible, watching to see if this will prevent fragments from detaching when the book is open.
- Replace label.
- Consolidate corners.
Treatment Proposal--Option C
- Open uncut leaves.
- Surface clean sooty text block edges; remove accretions.
- Lift paper covering from spine; line with long fiber paper for re-use.
- Re-attach boards to text block by adhering strips of long fiber paper across the joints. These strips will extend a few millimeters onto the board edges.
- Replace lined original spine paper—either as a tight back or as a hollow tube.
- Consolidate corners.
Treatment Performed
The three treatment options were presented to the client, who selected Option B.
- Surface cleaned sooty text block edges with a rubber sponge.
- Removed accretions with a soft brush.
- Tested ink and stains on the spine label with distilled water and ethanol. The ink and stains were found to be stable.
- Faced the label Crompton’s tissue activated with ethanol to facilitate lifting.
- Lifted spine label mechanically.
- Lifted paper covering from outer spine edges of boards.
- Hinged detached outer leaves to text block with acrylic-toned tengucho and a wheat starch paste/methylcellulose mixture.
- Threaded three strands of seaming twine through the sewing stations of the outermost sections of the text block; frayed out ends of twine and adhered them to the boards beneath the covering material with wheat starch paste in order to provide a connection between the text block and the boards.
- Toned exposed seaming twine with colored pencil and ethanol.
- Adhered acrylic-toned usu mino with wheat starch paste/methylcellulose mixture across the joints to create further board-text block attachment.
- Mended spine tears and cracks with acrylic-toned usu mino and wheat starch paste/methylcellulose mixture.
- Coated undersides of lifted spine flaps with wheat starch paste/methylcellulose mix to create a barrier layer.
- Re-adhered flaps with wheat starch paste/methylcellulose mix.
- Backed lifted label with tengucho and wheat starch paste/methylcellulose mixture.
- Re-adhered label to the spine of the book with wheat starch paste/methylcellulose mix.
- Used colored pencil to cosmetically integrate spine mends.
- Consolidated corners with wheat starch paste.
- Encapsulated bug found on p. 294 with polyester film and double-stick tape. Replaced in book on p. 294.
- Constructed book shoe from 40 point board and PVAc, with text block support of corrugated board covered with Tyvek and PVAc adhered to shoe with double stick tape.
Materials Used
- Fisher Scientific ethanol
- Crompton’s heat-set tissue
- Hiromi tengucho tissue
- Liquitex Professional Acrylics: Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber
- Colophon precipitated wheat starch paste, mixed 1:4 with distilled water and cooked 20 minutes
- Fisher Scientific methylcellulose 2.5% dispersed in hot then cold distilled water
- Best Blake seaming twine
- Stabilo CarbOthello colored pencils (#620)
- Hiromi usu mino tissue HP-02
- Melinex polyester film
- 3M #415 Double Sided Tape
- 40 point board
- White one-ply corrugated board
- Elvace PVAc 45675 (Poly vinyl acetate adhesive)
- Tyvek