BOOK MODELS | BOOK TREATMENTS | PAPER TREATMENTS | RESUME | ARTWORK

Before Treatment During Treatment After Treatment

• Date: February 6, 2008
• Conservator: Suzy Morgan
• Instructor: Chela Metzger
• Call Number/Collection: 08-62, Private Collection
• Author: Tove Jansson
• Imprint: Ernest Benn Limited, 154 Fleet Street, London E.C.4
• Title: The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little My
• Collation/foliation: One signature of six folios
• Format: Folio
• Dimensions (binding): 28.4 cm H x 21.0 cm W x 0.8 cm Th

The undersigned requests and authorizes the Kilgarlin Center University of Texas-Austin, Austin, TX, to undertake conservation treatment of the artifact described in the attached Condition Report according to the procedures outlined in the appended Treatment Proposal.  In the event the Owner/Custodian authorizes the Kilgarlin Center to proceed with the treatment recommended in the proposal such authorization shall be deemed to include acceptance by the depositor of the terms and conditions appearing in the original Authorization for Examination and Treatment.

This is a fully illustrated children's book in which each page has a cutout that the characters of the book travel through over the course of the story. The book's structure is a six-folio single-signature staple binding with a paper-covered strawboard case reinforced with an external cloth spine piece. The cloth spine piece extends approximately 1.5 cm onto each board, from head to tail. The cloth is well-adhered to the boards except at the head and tail and is lifting some along the middle of the front board. The front board has a circular cutout of approximately 10 cm in diameter, and the back board has a much smaller circular cutout of about 2 cm in diameter. The corners of the boards are delaminating some, and all edges of the board, including the edges of the cutouts, have been rubbed and abraded from use. There is also some grime overall on both boards and on the cloth spine piece.

The textblock is comprised of a single signature with six folios, held together with three 1.6 cm wide metal staples. There are staples 19.3 cm, 11 cm and 4.3 cm from the top edge of the textblock. Folio six, the innermost folio, is completely detached from the staples but otherwise intact. There are no endpapers. The paper is a medium (2) thick machine-made, wove paper. Each page has been printed using color lithography. Both the text and the images were created with lithography. Six colors of ink were used: red, blue, purple, black, yellow and a brownish-maroon.

Each folio has some cutout areas through which part of the next or previous page can be viewed; these are part of the original structure of the book. Each of these cutout areas has suffered tears; page twelve has a tear that was mended with cellophane tape. The tape has since become desiccated and the carrier has delaminated from the adhesive residue. There is no evidence of any other previous repairs to the textblock. On the first page, there is a delaminated and torn spot with some adhesive residue. This spot is visible through the circular cutout on the front board; it is located 13 cm from the right and 13.2 cm from the bottom edge and measures 2.8 cm high by 1.8 cm wide.

Stabilize the binding so that it can be read without causing further damage, especially to the cutout areas within the textblock. The worn appearance of the boards and spine piece will be left as unchanged as possible to preserve the evidence of its past use.

Before Treatment: Digital photographs in ambient light. Detail shots of tears and detached sixth folio.

1. Remove cloth from spine and disbind from staples.
2. Mend tears using wheat starch paste and toned Japanese tissue as necessary.
3. On page 12 (Folio 1): Remove cellophane tape carrier mechanically and any remaining tacky adhesive residue using a solvent-assisted mechanical method as needed.
4. Reduce adhesive residue on page 1 (Folio 1) using a solvent-assisted mechanical method as needed. 
5. Consolidate corners using wheat starch paste.
6. Resew with pamphlet stitch using original staple holes.
7. Reattach cloth spine piece.
8. Re-house in custom phase box.

Possible Effects of Treatment
The tape and adhesive residue on both the first and twelth pages may not respond to mechanical or solvent-assisted mechanical methods of removal. The cloth spine piece may be damaged during removal or become distorted after removal, necessitating the use of a replacement piece of cloth that is as similar to the original color and weave as possible.

1. Removed staples and disbound the volume.
2. Moistened the cloth spine strip and adhesive with strips of damp blotter until it could be peeled away with minimal effort. [See Photo]
3. Adhesive residue on title page and front cover was removed mechanically using a poultice of damp blotter and a combination of microspatula and crepe eraser.
4. The corners of both boards were consolidated with wheat starch paste.
5. An infill of Japanese tissue was placed using wheat starch paste in the abraded image area of the title page visible through the circular cutout of the front board. Colored pencils were used to in-paint the loss areas. A thin layer of Methylcellulose was then applied over the colored pencil. [See Photo]
6. The piece of cellophane tape on page 12 was removed mechanically. It was decided that the staining from the tape adhesive would not be removed during this particular treatment due to time constraints.
7. Tears throughout the folios were mended using wheat starch paste and methylcellulose applied with a small brush, then left to dry under weight.
8. Folios 1 (pages 12 and 13) and 5 (pages 8 and 9) were mended using over-under Usa-mino tissue mends applied with wheat starch paste. The mends were then toned with colored pencils to be less visually obtrusive.
9. The book was pamphlet sewn with waxed Irish linen thread, using the original staple holes. The thread was toned with colored pencils where it showed at the center of the signature. [See Photo]
10. The original cloth spine strip was adhered using wheat starch paste.
11. The book was then housed in a custom-made four-flap wrapper.

1.Lunning, E and Perkinson, R. 1996. The Print Council of America Paper Sample Book. The Print Council of America.

Suzy can be contacted via email at: suzyemail (at) gmail.com | (c) 2007 by Suzy Morgan