Sonya Issaeva
M.S.I.S. Candidate, University of Texas at Austin, School of Information
C.A.S Candidate, Kilgarlin Center for the Preservation of the Cultural Record
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Miniature Books Project - Summer 2007
The Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum
225 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Collection: Julia Parker Wightman miniature book collection (over 1,000 volumes)
Date: Western miniature volumes dating from 17th to 20th century
Department/ Collection: Department of Rare Books
Request: Create new storage housings to minimize handling to prevent abrasion, and to keep volumes from
shifting when storage is accessed
Although the Julia Wightman miniatures collection was housed in archival cardboard boxes, the storage conditions were not ideal for long-term preservation. The storage boxes were crowded, with volumes stacked against each other tightly, which caused unnecessary wear and abrasion. The volumes were only loosely organized in numerical order according to accession number, so in order to find a particular miniature inside a given storage box, one had to handle many more volumes than reasonable. Wads of acid free tissue were used for cushioning the miniatures against the sides of the box. This obscured many volumes from view and made access more difficult. When a storage box was handled, the miniatures were not kept securely in place and shifted inside freely.
Before Treatment
All materials used for re-housing were archival quality products. Box dimensions were chosen accommodate the the height of most miniature volumes and to fit 2-3 books along the width of the box (H 4" x W 8.5" x L 15", "Video Cassette Storage Box", Archival Suppliers). Cardboard dividers lined with Volara foam (attached with double-sided tape) were used to create separate rows of books and to hold the volumes in place while minimizing abrasion.
The miniature volumes were housed in numerical order according to accession number. Since the miniatures were not accessioned according to size, very small volumes often had to be placed next to much larger ones. In order to fill in the negative space that would allow the smaller volumes to shift around, custom-sized blocks of Volara were attached to the dividers.
divider lined with Volara
Volara supports attached
books and dividers
The blocks were created by layering sheets of scrap Volara foam adhered together with double-sided tape. These individualized mount cushions define a specific location for each book according to its number and size.
Approximately 1.5-2 inches of space was left vacant at the end of each box for a spacer to be inserted. The spacers were made from folded corrugated blue board. With the spacer inserted into place, the dividers are in upright position and the volumes are prevented from shifting. When the spacer is removed, the dividers can be angled forward or backward and the volumes can be readily taken out. There is a space on the cardboard dividers above each volume, where a catalog ID label could be placed, thus making access to the collection more efficient.
After Treatment
