Highlights

Johnsons Dictionary

• Removed spines to see what we are working with using methyl cellulose poultice—original leather cover spines underneath but unsalvageable.  Was also able to discover recessed sewing channels across the spine.
• Removed all old leather that was red rotting.
• Repaired pages in the split area and near the front and back with sekishu and wheat starch paste.  Some of these repairs included re-hinging sewing areas.
• Partial re-sew to re-attach split areas.
• Cotton/linen cotton cord was sewn over original using laddering technique.
• Spines patch-lined with Sekishu and wheat starch paste.
• Spine lined with Irish linen textile with cord area cut out to lay down evenly around cords.
• Boards slotted near spine using handheld Dremel with diamond bit.
• Irish linen textile hinge inserted into the slotted area and adhered using PVA.
• Cords flayed out and attached to top of boards using PVA.
• Re-backed with goat leather and wheat starch paste.
• Labels printed with quikprint
• Gold tooling lines applied to spine (gold foil, not gold leaf).
• Boxed

Citrus Label Clamshell Boxes

The Jerry Chicone Jr. Florida Citrus Label Collection is held in the P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History at the George A. Smathers Library at the University of Florida. This was about a two year project and around 3000 were digitized and encapsulated. The clamshell boxes add an extra layer of protection to post-style albums with the encapsulated citrus labels.  The clamshell was needed because the posts don’t make for the most sturdy structure. These boxes allow the labels to be easily removed from the albums if needed to be viewed that way. 

The Earth and It’s Inhabitants

• Although this was in excellent condition, the paper accordion was slightly bowed due to the weight of the globe on top.
• Treatment Performed:
  Paper repair of booklet tab with Japanese paper (two different thicknesses) and wheat starch paste.
  Bespoke box.
• The hope is that this treatment might slowly un-bow the paper and keep it from getting more damaged by the globe. 

Biographical Memoirs George Washington

Treatment Performed:

• Ironed out wrinkles in covers with deionized water.  Tacked them down to boards with wheat starch paste.
• Removed old animal glue repair on back of spine manually with microspatula.
• Tacked down broken tape on front cover with wheat starch paste and thin Japanese paper.
• Ironed out wrinkles in back paste down and re-attached to cover using wheat starch paste.
• Repaired front flyleaf with wheat starch paste and Japanese paper.
• Created four-flap for item with in-fills to support fragile covers and textblock—box has stepped pastedowns to infill the loss of cover boards.

Annales of Cornelivs Tacitvs (1622)

Treatment Performed:

• Unbound including complete removal of sewing.
• Dry cleaning pages with natural rubber sponge (smoke sponge).
• Washed manuscript waste pages to remove excessive folding.
• Repaired pages: dog ears and other folds with de-ionized water and warm spatula. Slight
  mending of tears with wheat starch paste and Japanese paper.
• Repaired folios: almost every outer folio required repair with wheat starch paste and Japanese
  paper.
• Handmade paper endsheet made of 100% hemp paper (from Amy Richard, papermaker) were
  created. This hemp paper was folded over 2 folios of cotton rag and given a gusset fold at
  spine.
• Sewed two-on sewing over split alum tawed cords and hemp (for five sewing stations), kettle
  stitches were over smaller alum tawed cords and hemp straight across (no links to lower
  sewing stations).
• Texted rounded and lined in between cords with wheat starch paste and Japanese paper.
• Head and Tail reinforced with parchment and linen thread primary end band (with a secondary
  end band sewing of silk to alum spine cover).
• Outer cover was made using a goat alum-tawed skin for the spine bonnet (Franz Hoffmann
  Gutenberg tawed skin) and covers made from calf parchment (Binding Calf Parchment from
  Pergamena). This was done in an Espinoza style conservation binding with edge yap.
• Leather spine, old cord and sewing thread, manuscript waste and hinge pastedowns all
  encapsulated.
• Original covers and encapsulated items housed together in corrugated four-flap box.

Primera Parte de los Commentarios reales

Treatment Performed:

• Pagination and dry-cleaning (*dry-cleaning did not remove enough dirt for the repairs to stick
  to the torn pages).
• Removed from binding (assessment taken during this).
• Took book apart completely (taking careful notes of construction). First introductory pages as
  well as index pages in the back were stab sewn—contributing to the destruction of the book.
• Washed all pages in de-ionized, pH-neutral water over the course of several days.
• Re-sized paper with 1% photo-grade gelatin adhesive in water.
• Repaired paper/tears/hinges with usu-gami Japanese paper and wheat starch paste.
• Stab sewn pages were hinged together for sewing through hinge folds rather than stab sewing
  (the textblock will be more stable for longer).
• Added new paper for first and last sections.
• Re-sewed textblock over vellum and alum-tawed thongs with the same packed sewing style as
  the original.
• Lined spine with Japanese paper as well as a combed (cut and placed around packed
  sewing), iris linen lining that extended beyond spine.
• Linen lining adhered to first endsheet with wheat starch paste (for structure as first endsheets
  are cut a little at head and tail).
• New limp vellum cover created and physically attached to textblock in the same style as
  previous binding. Corners cut different for more longterm stability. Small card inserted in
  cover for more stable covers—all non-adhesive binding process and easily removed.
• Holes for fore edge ties noted on original binding so ties were added to the new cover (again,
  a slightly different design for added stability).
• Original materials housed in corrugated b-flute four-flap box.
• 3-flap clamshell construction created to house all.

Cinderella – Pantomime Toy Books

Treatment Performed:

• Paper repair—especially on folds/hinges using wheat starch paste and Japanese paper.
• Consolidated interior of textile spine with Japanese paper and wheat starch paste.
• Re-sew (pamphlet stitch—same as previous) adding non-toned cotton lining backed with
  wheat starch paste.
• Re-attached textblock to covers with PVA and cotton lining.
• Infilled inner hinge with Japanese paper and wheat starch paste/PVA mix.
• Four-flap enclosure

Dean’s Dissolving Pictures of things worth knowing

Treatment Performed:

• Animated one page
• Facsimiles and models made
• Repair:
• Pull Tabs—tabs were dry cleaned with smoke sponge and old adhesive removed using de-ionized water and PEC pads.  Some tabs were so folded that they were replaced with two layers of Bristol board adhered with PVA.
• Mechanism Paper Pieces—pieces were dry cleaned with smoke sponge and old adhesive removed using de-ionized water, PEC pads, and micro spatula.  Repaired tears with uso mino and tengujo (11 gsm) and wheat starch paste.  Infills of losses were with Sekishu at 42 gsm and wheat starch paste with light tengujo as support.
• Paper frames and backing—full sheets were dry cleaned with smoke sponge and old adhesive removed using de-ionized water, PEC pads, and micro spatula.  Yellow colorant water soluble so stains were removed in some places with 8% agarose gel left on for 20 minutes.  Tears and fills repaired using same method as paper pieces.
• Mechanisms were put back together with pieces adhered to the frame piece using a thick wheat starch paste and pieces adhered to tab using PVA.
• Frame and backing adhered along sides (not head/tail area) using thick wheat starch paste.
• Pages hinged back together with sekishu (42 gsm) and wheat starch paste.
• Encapsulated old repairs—especially the pull tabs with the t-stop addition are historically important.
• Corners of board built back up using thin blotter and wheat starch paste.
• Covers:
• Spine:  acrylic-toned cotton textile was used as the re-back material with a mix of wheat starch paste and PVA.
• Paper Covers:  acrylic-toned Sekishu (42 gsm)  was used for losses.  Pre- as well as post-toned once on the covers.  These were attached underneath original material using wheat starch paste.
• Original cover material laid over new repairs using PVA.
• Housed all together.

Cinderella Books from the Baldwin Collection

Treatment Performed:

• Copy 1:
• Frozen twice over a two-week period to -30 below as a means to possibly render
  mold dormant.
• Dry cleaned with natural rubber (smoke) sponge.
• Repaired tears and hinges at broken folds with Usu-gami 15 g/m and wheat starch
  paste.
• Resewn in a pamphlet stitch with linen thread
• Housed in pocket pamphlet.
  Copy 2:
• Frozen twice over a two-week period to -30 below as a means to possibly render
  mold dormant.
• Removed old staples that were corroding textile.
  Copy 2—Open: 5—folds in textile
  Copy Copy 2—Angled Front Cover: 3 2—Angled Back Cover: 4
  Copy 2—Open: Close-up of Staples
• Dry cleaned with natural rubber (smoke) sponge.
• Item still extremely dirty. Acqueous cleaning occurred using a 5% gellan gum base
  and spot cleaning using a 5% agarose gel.
• Outer folio repaired mechanically with Lauscaux-infused silk crepeline and silk
  thread.
• Resewn using linen thread in pamphlet stitch.
• Housed in pocket pamphlet.

Jamaica Manuscript by Joseph Barnes

Treatment Performed:

• Dry cleaned with a smoke sponge.
• Humidified and Flattened on a suction table.
• Pressed and dried underweight for two months.
• Wax seal repaired with remoistenable tissue of 0 Korean paper and a mix of wheat starch paste and methyl cellulose.