The Ohio Preservation Council and the State Library of Ohio are pleased to offer a full day symposium in celebration of the book. This symposium will highlight the history and art of the book with panel discussions, concurrent talks, and hands-on learning.
Keynote speaker, Julia Miller, will discuss various topics including the urgency of historical book description and why conservation and preservation is everyone’s responsibility.
Book Artist, Macy Chadwick, Assistant Professor in Medieval Studies, Bonnie Mak, and Book Conservator Jim Reid Cunningham will speak about the future of the Codex in a post codex panel.
A curated set of breakout sessions will further the registrant’s knowledge and appreciation of the codex in a number of creative and historic applications. These sessions include a presentation by Kyle Holland from the Morgan Paper Conservatory, a dramatic history presented about the 1748 Ephrata Martyrs Mirror by Carrie Phillips, a discussion about the conservation and preservation of scrapbooks by conservators Jayme Jamison and Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer, and a session with Julia Miller who will present her collection of bookbindings.
Additionally, attendees will have an opportunity to purchase one of a kind materials from local craftspeople, bookbinders and artisans at the exhibitor hall(way).
Located at:
The Jessing Center
7625 N High St, Columbus, OH 43235
Please visit the Ohio Preservation Council’s News and Events for registration and symposium information. See also: http://opc.ohionet.org/opcjoomla/news-and-events/.
Fun with PhotoDoc – RTI Viewer Video (Edition 6)
In my last “Fun with PhotoDoc” post I discussed the my recent RTI training with Cultural Heritage Imaging at Yale University. If you missed that post you can check it out here. In that post I discussed our first RTI capture session on a book entitled, Aller Bücher und Schrifften des thewren, seligen Mans Gottes Doct. Mart. Lutheri …, which is part UC’s Archives & Rare Books Library’s collection and is the eighth volume in an eight volume set. The binding is most likely age-hardened alum-tawed leather (though possibly vellum) on wooden boards with embossed paneled decoration that is barely visible under normal illumination. In that first RTI blog post I shared some snapshots of the various RTI modes you can explore within the RTI Viewer software, but I knew that I ultimately wanted to create a video capture of the RTI Viewer in action. I was finally able to do that using a free software called TinyTake.
This video can also be viewed through UCL Media Space: https://stream.libraries.uc.edu/media/AllerBucherUndSchrifften_i17632730_VideoCaptureRTI/1_s13c9opc
In this video we explore the following modes built within the RTI Viewer as the light position is moved around the object:
- Default Mode (HSH)
- Specular Enhancement Mode with color removed (HSH) – notice the “1571” inscription that becomes more apparent. This volume was printed in 1568, and we believe that 1571 was when the publication was bound.
- Normals Visualization Mode (HSH) – allows the human eye to better determine is convex and concave on the surface of the cover.
- Diffuse Gain Mode (PTM) – This mode is ideal for visualizing surface abrasions and losses. Take notice of the “ID” inscription that becomes more visible, and when we switch back to the default mode you can see that this “ID” inscription is virtually invisible to the naked eye.
I have to say, Catarina and I really enjoyed the capture process for this binding, but when we found that “ID” and then looked at the physical binding and could barely see anything…we were kind of giddy! I’m hoping to create more RTI Viewer video captures like this as we carry out more RTI capture sessions for collection materials. When I do, I will make sure to share them here.
Jessica Ebert (UCL) – Conservation Technician
Fun with PhotoDoc – RTI (Edition 5)
At the beginning of April I was lucky enough to attend a RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging) workshop offered by Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI) at Yale University. CHI is a non-profit organization that shares and teaches RTI and Photogrammetry technology with cultural heritage institutions around the world. The class I attended was a 4-day NEH grant sponsored course taught by three RTI experts from CHI, and it was amazing!
So, what is RTI? CHI describes it on their website as “a computational photographic method that captures a subject’s surface shape and color and enables the interactive re-lighting of the subject from any direction”. For highlight RTI, which is the least expensive and most accessible method for most institutions and what I was taught in the class, you basically take a series of 36 to 48 images of an object where everything is constant (settings and position of objects, camera and spheres) except for the light position. With a reflective black sphere (or 2) set up next to your object, you move you light source around the object at varying angles. Then, you take that set of images and plug them into the free RTI software provided by CHI and the algorithm detects the sphere(s) and the highlight points (from your light) captured on the sphere(s) and voila!…you have an fun and interactive way to look at your object’s surface texture.
Before I attended this fantastic training opportunity, our conservator and I knew right away what the subject of our first capture would be when I returned…a 16th century German Reformation text by Martin Luther with a highly decorated cover that is practically invisible under normal illumination.
Here’s a time lapse video of our first (and second) capture in the Lab…
That day (Tuesday) were were able to capture the upper and lower covers of the Reformation text (from ARB), the original silk cover from a 17th century Chinese manuscript (from Hebrew Union College) and an illuminated page from a German vellum prayer book (from PLCH). And here our some snapshots of our results from two of those captures (click on the thumbnails for a larger view of the image)…
I hope you’ve enjoyed getting a little sneak peek into RTI. I will be demoing and discussing in further depth this afternoon from 1:30 to 3pm at the Lab’s annual Preservation Week Open House. I also hope to do more RTI captures/processes in the future and share them here.
Jessica Ebert (UCL) – Conservation Technician
Welcome President Pinto!
The Preservation Lab had the opportunity to collaborate with our Director of Library Communications, Melissa Norris, and the Head of Archives and Rare Books Library, Kevin Grace, to create a hand bound writing notebook full of fun facts about the Library system. The book was bound by Jessica Ebert, conservation technician.
Also pictured is a custom bind of Dot Christenson’s book Keep On Fighting: The Life and Civil Rights Legacy of Marian A. Spencer, also bound by Jessica created to mark the gift of the Marian Spencer collection to the Archives and Rare Books Library.
Fun with PhotoDoc – Edition 4
We very recently returned a two volume collection of photographs taken by William S. Porter, known as the W.S. Porter Collection, to the Public Library. William S. Porter is known in Cincinnati as one of the two photographers responsible for the 1848 Cincinnati Panorama (you can read more about and even explore this amazing daguerreotype panorama here). Volume one of the collection consists of 7 cased photographs (including daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes) and 1 non-cased tintype, all reportedly taken by W.S. Porter, while volume 2 consists of one framed daguerreotype of W.S. Porter and a preservation print of that photograph. When these photographs arrived in the Lab for treatment, many of the cases were damaged (especially along the spine – some broken completely, one previously “repaired” with tape, etc.), the framed photograph needed re-packaging, and the collection needed two custom enclosures (vol. 1 & 2) to safely store all the photographs.
Now, as anyone who does photographic documentation will tell you, taking treatment documentation photos of photographs is a pain, especially on the copy stand (i.e. from above) and especially when you were trained in-house in a book and paper lab. Glass objects just aren’t as common around these parts. During PhotoDoc glass just acts as a mirror, reflecting all your light and even your camera lens and obstructing the actual photograph you are trying to capture. But we knew that we wanted some good quality photos of the photographs to print as surrogates and to also use in the enclosures. Black foam core and an Olfa rotary cutter to the rescue! Using these two supplies I created a non-reflective black surface to place around the camera lens to help reduce reflections and absorb light.
With the black non-reflective board in place, I was able, with guidance from our conservator, to get some pretty good shots of the photographs to be used as surrogates. The photos were also printed out and attached to the back of individual tuxedo boxes for each cased photograph. Instructions to “store face down” were placed on the front of each tuxedo box to assist patrons in proper storage. (The glass on all of these photographs is degraded and if stored face up the glass can actually weep onto the photograph causing significant damage, therefore cased daguerreotypes/ambrotypes/tintypes are generally stored up-side-down to prevent further damage to the actual photograph). All of the tuxedo boxes for volume 1 were housed within a two-tiered clamshell box with two removable trays made by our resident “Box Master”, Chris Voynovich. It should be noted that it’s a miracle this enclosure made it out of the lab and back to the Public Library, because several staff members were so enamored with it and thought it would make the best jewelry box! I mean, it kind of would, wouldn’t it?
Here are the images I was able to obtain using my homemade non-reflective board:
Jessica Ebert (UCL) – Conservation Technician
Fun with VideoDoc: Lining a Oversized Map (Edition 3)
A couple months ago the lab received an oversized map from the Public Library’s collection. The map is from 1863 and depicts the businesses of downtown Cincinnati at the time. The Public Library would like to digitize the map, however when it arrived in the lab it had a variety of creases, stains and losses. It was also previously lined with cloth. Conservator, Ashleigh, and Sr. Conservation Tech, Catarina, began the work of removing the map from the prior cloth lining, washing the detached sections of the map to assist in removing the prior cloth lining adhesive, and locally humidifying and flattening the creases and distortions in the paper (caused when the map was previously lined).
Next up, lining the map with kozo fiber tissue and a mixture of wheat starch paste and methyl cellulose. For this, Ashleigh and Catarina created a make-shift light table, since the Lab’s was not large enough and began piecing the sections of the map back together. I couldn’t not document this climactic part of the treatment, so I went a little crazy, threw my go-to documentation equipment out the window (i.e. our Nikon DSLR), grabbed my iPhone and made a little video to illustrate the process. I hope you enjoy it!
*Please note, portions of this video have been sped up to shorten the length of the video…Ashleigh and Catarina work quickly, but not THAT quickly!
Jessica Ebert (UCL) – Conservation Technician
Fun with PhotoDoc – Edition 2
I’m back for another edition of “Fun with PhotoDoc”. If you missed the first edition you can check it out here. Originally I had planned for that to be a one-off post, but then I thought it might be fun to make this into more of a series, sharing interesting facets of photographic documentation (aka PhotoDoc) as they come up. Really, it just gives me an excuse to share all the things about PhotoDoc that I think are just plain cool and to make gifs out of treatment documentation photos, which is so much fun!
This time around I wanted to share some interesting before treatment photos of two War Bond posters from the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County’s collection. For both of these I photographed the posters using normal illumination and then used raking illumination to highlight tears, cockling and bends/breaks in the paper.
Jessica Ebert (UCL) – Conservation Technician
To our Provost and 29th President
As a farewell gift and appreciation for all the work and time dedicated to the University of Cincinnati, The Preservation Lab was asked to create a custom binding for an Album for the Provost and 29th President Beverly J. Davenport. UC Government Relations and University Communications provided the lab with single sheets printed with photographs of Dr. Beverly J. Davenport during her time at the University of Cincinnati.
To create the custom binding the single sheets had to be cut using one of our board shears. All the sheets were precisely cut to the same dimensions and a textblock was created.
Once the textblock was ready, endsheets and pastedowns were selected. In this case since this book was dedicated to our Provost and 29th President, the color of the endsheets where the colors of UC, red and black. A white paper was chosen as a pastedown.
Since the pages were single sheets, the finished book would need to have a simple structure: a double fan adhesive binding. This structure is perfect for a textblock of single sheets as it provides a strong binding that allows the text block to be opened almost flat without causing the pages to separate from each other and break free. The adhesive is pasted onto the spine of the text block with a double fanning technique, where the pages are fanned in both directions allowing the adhesive to reach about 1 mm into the text block pages. After the pages are fanned in both directions, the spine of the text block received a lining of Cambric Cloth to provide support and an attachment for the cover. The spine was also lined with a handmade paper further strengthen the spine and prevent it from breaking from heavy use.
Once the textblock was finished, the cover was created, a cloth cover quarter binding. To continue with the theme of UC colors, a marbled paper with red and black tones was chosen. A black cloth was chosen for the spine lining. The album received striped red stuck- on endbands.
After the cover was made and the textblock was cased in and the album was ready to receive a title. The title was created using the Lab’s hot stamper. Several titles were made using the same black cloth used on the spine. A silver title stamped on a black cloth was chosen, since it best matched the theme and colors of the cover.
And the final result:
The Lab deeply appreciated this opportunity to contribute to the farewell gift and wish our 29th President Dr. Beverly J. Davenport all the best.
Catarina Figueirinhas (UCL) — Senior Conservation Technician
Polyester Encapsulated Page Binding *Part Two: The Components
This past year, the Preservation Lab was recruited to conserve the Public Library’s scrapbook of Althea Hurst.
Scrapbooks are complex library materials. They are conduits to stories told through the use of collections of ephemeral materials (a.k.a. materials meant to be thrown away and not meant to last), such as newspaper clippings, letters and postcards, and maps.
Due to their collection of content, scrapbooks usually are bursting with problematic preservation issues. Often, fragile pages hold stiff, brittle, or heavy parts that are adhered and folded. Components are frequently found layered and overlapping. These parts are filled with information and are intended to be handled and experienced; however, as the parts become fragile with age they are nearly impossible to touch without causing damage.
Althea Hurst scrapbook with adhered components, before conservation treatment.
In most situations, it’s often best to digitize an object and protect it by storing it in an enclosure. I often recommend patrons reference the digital copy rather than handling the physical object. Alternatively, if an object will be handled (and the importance of the object warrants conservation treatment) another solution is to support the pages by encapsulating them within clear polyester film. The polyester film encapsulations are then bound into an encapsulated page binding. This format help preserve the parts in the author’s intended order, however, this course of treatment must be carefully considered as it can sometimes be an invasive solution if disbinding is required.
In the case of the Public Library’s scrapbook, the scrapbook had been previously reformatted by a prior owner due to its poor condition. At some point in the object’s history, each page and cover had been separated from the binding and stored in non-archival plastic sleeves to protect the pages from breaking. Oversized rubber bands held the album in two manageable stacks.
Althea Hurst scrapbook as received, before conservation treatment.
When the library received the object, the pages were in dire need of stabilization before it could be digitized and also needed improved storage. Because the scrapbook was already disbound into pieces (even the covers were detached) an encapsulated page binding was selected as the most fitting option for storage. The local historical importance of the scrapbook warranted full treatment.
Althea Hurst scrapbook, view of inside upper cover and first page, before treatment.
Being a novice in encapsulated page bindings, I reviewed a few binding structures and wrote about my discoveries here. I settled on constructing a modified screw-post binding to fit the needs of the Public Library’s scrapbook.
Now armed with a direction for constructing the album structure, the next challenge was:
How do I encapsulate a scrapbook that houses a variety of adhered material, such as pamphlets, postcards, letters, maps, and more, and still make the parts accessible?
Encapsulation Techniques
To determine a solution for preserving the arrangement of parts, I researched various methods of welding paper, polyester film, and spun bond sheets of polyester webbing to encapsulated pages. I compiled the methods into a model binding for reference in preparation for treatment.
Below are a list of experimental solutions for housing and encapsulating the scrapbook’s multiple parts. Many of the techniques were utilized in the final treatment, as you will see in the photographs below.
1. Traditional Encapsulation
- This technique was used to fully encapsulate scrapbook pages overall, or to encapsulate removed single sheets that needed extra support
- Pages or parts were sandwiched between polyester film and ultrasonically welded on all four sides:
- Gaps along the corners were left to encourage air exchange and to prevent buildup of acidic off-gassing of the historic materials.
2. U-sleeve: welded on 3 sides for top edge access
- Useful for items that may need to be handled outside of the plastic and are thick or heavy
Hinged U-sleeve allows access to the card as well as stability for storing next to the envelope.
3. Polyester sheets welded on two parallel sides
- Could potentially be helpful in the right circumstance for thin items that may need to be handled outside of the plastic. Two access points are helpful for reducing static cling and suction, however, items may accidentally slide out more easily (see next technique for a similar yet preferred method).
4. L-sleeve: welded along the left side and bottom edge (in the shape of an “L”).
- Alternative technique to the U-sleeve for storing parts that may require future handling.
- An L-sleeve can be welded to one side of an encapsulated page binding with an ultrasonic weld after the L-sleeve is created.
- For thicker materials, an additional small weld along the bottom right edge is helpful to prevent materials from sliding out of the sleeve when the page is turned.
5. Spot welds: heat or ultrasonically welded
- Technique used to hold materials in place and prevent them from sliding within an encapsulation
6. Thin overlapping attachments
- Overlapping parts that need to be kept in a specific composition can be carefully removed from the page by a conservator and individually encapsulated. The encapsulated components can then be welded to the upper sheet of the polyester page using a variety of techniques to preserve the original orientation.
- Using these techniques allows access to all the components on a page that would otherwise be inaccessible in a traditional encapsulation, and keeps the author’s intended composition.
- Parts must be oriented and welded to the upper sheet of polyester before creating the finished encapsulated page, i.e. before encapsulating the lower sheet of polyester to the upper sheet.
7. Hollytex hinge
- A strong synthetic hinge (made from spun-bonded polyester) that is welded to the clear polyester sheets with ultrasonic welding.
- Useful for easily viewing the front and back of overlapping parts or loose bits.
Detail of Hinge
Overlapping Components, Before Treatment:
Hinged Overlapping Parts, After Treatment:
8. Paper Hinge
- Usu Mino tissue is welded in between two sheets of polyester
- The extended Usu Mino hinge can then be brushed with paste and adhered directly to a paper leaf.
- Useful in other applications, for example preserving loose components in paper textblocks, such as pressed flowers or handwritten notes.
9. Polyester four flap attachment
- For small but thick objects
- To secure thin components with multiple parts on top of an encapsulated page while still allowing full access
10. Paper spacers
- Strips of acid free paper can be placed within an encapsulation to prevent smaller components from moving within larger encapsulated pages.
- The paper space holders are visually pleasing so the viewer is not distracted by the page below.
- Static holds thinner sheets in place
- Thicker textblock leaves may need to be spot welded in-between the document and the paper strip
11. Stiff support leaf with cloth hinge
- To support heavy page encapsulations AND/OR include heavy components in pockets on a strong page within the binding
- Constructed out of 2-ply mat board, PVA, and Canapetta cloth
Before Treatment:
12. Stiff flyleaf to support encapsulated pages when laying open
- Constructed out of 4-ply mat board, PVA, and Canapetta cloth
- The stiff flyleaf contains a smaller hinge than the interior support leaves
*Bonus Experimental Technique:
13. Welding polyester film to Vivak
- Even the cover contained an attached component!
- As per a request by the curator, the original cover was incorporated into the new binding with reversible methods. The original cover was hinged into a sink-mat package that was sandwiched between a cloth covered mat and a sheet of Vivak.
- After a bit of experimenting, a polyester L-sleeve was ultrasonically welded to the Vivak “pastedown” so the original arrangement could be preserved
Before Treatment & After Treatment:
- A flyleaf of polyester film was hinged onto the “pastedown” to protect the attached component from being abraded by the edges of the textblock leaves:
Two volumes, after treatment:
Final challenge: how to manage the scrapbook’s large treatment effectively and efficiently.
To read about our collaborative treatment workflow, please see the next upcoming installment: Polyester Encapsulated Page Binding *Part Three: The Workflow.
Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer (PLCH) — Conservator, Conservation Lab Manager
Photographic Documentation – Jessica Ebert (UCL) – Conservation Technician
Pleasures of (Recomposing) the Text
Lucy Schultz, a volunteer with the collaborative preservation lab since June of 2009, has just published a reflection on working with her hands in the service of repairing books. Lucy is a UC scholar of composition history and an emerita faculty member. We are so grateful for her work (and her mention of the lab)!
Find the article at your library today! UC staff, faculty, students, and affiliates can view the article by following the link from http://aj2vr6xy7z.search.serialssolutions.com/?V=1.0&N=100&L=AJ2VR6XY7Z&S=AC_T_B&C=composition+studies.