Category Archives: Collection Care

Vivak, Velvet, and Vantage: Display Installation for FotoFocus 2024

Introduction

One of my favorite aspects of working for the Preservation Lab is the problem solving required to reach our clients’ goals. Whether performing treatments, building housings, or installing displays, we frequently find ourselves thinking outside the box to come up with custom solutions to unique problems.

FotoFocus

The problem solving aspect of the job was in full force with a recent display request from Art and Special Collections Reference Librarian, Sara Williams, for CHPL’s (Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library’s) participation in FotoFocus 2024 this Fall.

For those unfamiliar, FotoFocus is a biennial “month-long celebration of photography and lens-based art that unites artists, curators, and educators from around the world” (as described by the FotoFocus website). This year’s event was FotoFocus’ seventh iteration and encompassed 107 projects at 86 participating venues across Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Northern Kentucky.

The Display Request

The theme for FotoFocus 2024 was Backstories, which focused on hidden stories within photographs that are not initially obvious. With this theme in mind, Sara Williams came up with the idea of highlighting stories hidden within one of CHPL’s most highly prized collection items: the 1848 Fontayne and Porter Panorama Daguerreotype. (For more information about this historic photograph, its preservation, and daguerreotypes in general, an earlier blog post I wrote on the subject can be found here.)

1848 Fontayne and Porter 8 full-plate panorama daguerreotype

To convey this idea, Sara requested that the exhibit contain surrogate images attached to the back of the display cases, with images popping out at varying degrees of depth, highlighting the idea that each subsequent image is zoomed in closer, just as the story within the images become more in-depth.

Constructing a Prototype

I am still relatively new to the world of conservation, and even newer to that of display installation. When confronted with a task I am unfamiliar with such as this request, I like to think about what needs to be achieved, and then brainstorm how it can be achieved practically using stock materials we have in the lab. I did not yet have the specs on the display cases or the sizes of the specific images, but Sara gave me several printed foam board images like what would be used in the display to run tests with. Most importantly, I knew the two following bits of information:

The display needed images attached to a cloth-covered wall within the display case.
The images needed the ability to be mounted at custom depths from the cloth-covered wall.

After some brainstorming with our head conservator, Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer, we decided to try using Vivak to “pop out” the images at various depths.

Vivak is a copolyester plastic that can be easily bent into various shapes, yet retains its shape once creased. It is also clear, making it useful for displays due to its ability to blend into backgrounds and not detract from the featured objects.

We also decided to use our cubicle walls as a test site until we could get our hands on the actual cases, since attaching a support mount to a cloth covered wall was a unique challenge for us.

First Prototype

Attached to wall with two pins along top

I constructed the first prototype by creasing a small sheet of Vivak twice into a “J” shape. I poked two holes in the smaller lip of the “J” so that I could use pins to secure it to the cloth-covered wall, with the image adhered to the larger lip.

This was moderately successful. These would be easy to construct and the pins held the support’s weight. But I was concerned about the Vivak bowing under the weight of the images, especially for the ones that were to be at the furthest depth from the cloth-covered wall, as it was already wanting to sag without an attached image under its own weight.

Second Prototype

I made the second prototype into a “C” shape, so that there were two lips that could be pinned to the cloth-covered wall. My hope was that this would add more stability and reduce the potential sagging. This was certainly an improvement, but it still felt unstable, and I felt the Vivak pieces that needed to be longer still might sag.

Support with added base to combat sagging

I next added an additional support piece of Vivak along the back of this prototype so that the pins would penetrate it as well as the two lips, adding even more stability. This yielded the most favorable result so far, yet I felt like the process could be streamlined.

I wanted the “pop-outs” to be contained to one piece of Vivak, so for the final prototype so I extended the two lips of the “C” so that they overlapped each other making a square shape.

Final Prototype

Attached to wall with Vivak folds at top and bottom – still showed propensity to sag

Attached to wall with folds *along sides* – this eliminated the tendency to sag!

The final prototype gave the stability of the second prototype but was easier to produce as only one piece of Vivak needed to be cut. After constructing this successful variation, I had the idea to rotate the “pop-out” 90 degrees so that the creased section of the Vivak would be vertical rather than horizontal, eliminating any tendency for it to sag from these creases outward.

Installation

Sara had also requested that both the cloth-covered wall and base of the display be covered in black velvet to give the display a cleaner look, as the existing cloth had seen better days. This was accomplished by removing the boards, cutting enough velvet so they could be wrapped and completely covered on its exposed side, and then secured on their hidden underside using a staple gun.

The case before modifications, during deconstruction

The walls and base of the case were recovered with black polyester velvet

I had initially planned on using large “T”-shaped pins to fix the “pop-outs” to the cloth-covered wall, as they were abundant in the lab, and I felt the length of them would yield a stronger hold. However, upon attempting to test the prototype on the actual display case, it was discovered that the wall I assumed was cloth-covered foam was cloth-covered wood. As the “T”-shaped pins were long and not very sturdy, they would be extremely difficult to hammer into the wood.

I ended up using small ½” brass escutcheon pins. They are low profile and would be relatively easy to hammer into cloth-covered wood. I punctured 4 pilot holes through the overlapping “C” lips so the pins could hold the Vivak together, and then individual pins were hammered through the holes into the cloth-covered wood.

Long T-pins compared to the shorter escutcheon pins

The shorter pins were the perfect length to nail into the thin display case wall

Once the velvet was installed and the “pop-outs” were secured to the freshly velvet-covered boards, the images could be adhered directly to the Vivak using double stick tape, as they were surrogate images printed onto foam board.

Nailing the Vivak support to the display case wall

3M 415 double stick tape was used to adhere the surrogate images to the Vivak supports

The Display During Installation

Once the cases were modified with the black velvet polyester and the Vivak supports were nailed into place, the bases were ready for Sara to add additional components underneath.

View at an angle showing the varying depths of field

Three cases ready for final touches by Sara Williams

After Installation

The completed display, entitled Depth of Field: The Universe of the Daguerreotype went live on September 24, and was located on the 2^nd floor of the South building at the Downtown Main branch of CHPL through November 1^st. Sara Williams curated a wonderful series of images, featuring supplemental newspaper articles, city directories, images shot through a microscopic lens, and more to highlight both the scientific and human stories that are contained within this iconic Daguerreotype.

Captions describe:

The astonishing achievement of how the photographic images were captured outdoors when normally, daguerreotypes are produced indoors to control the complicated process.
How moisture and dust caused deterioration specks which are shown under 100x magnification and routinely monitored.
The panorama’s unique anoxic custom enclosure, where the absence of oxygen prevents further degradation.

Although the display is no longer viewable, its primary subject still is. The 1848 Fontayne and Porter Panorama Daguerreotype can currently be viewed in the Cincinnati Room of CHPL’s Downtown Main branch along with other fantastic displays curated by Sara. Be sure to check them out and be on the lookout for the return of FotoFocus in 2026!

View of the exhibit after installation next to the Story Center

Matt McCoy – Conservation Specialist [CHPL]

Otto Ege: Villain or Hero?

Introduction

Otto Ege (1888-1951) was a real-life figure known for his involvement in the dispersal of medieval manuscripts. Whether he is considered a villain or a hero depends on the perspective and context in which his actions are viewed.

Ege was a book dealer and collector who gained notoriety for breaking apart medieval manuscripts and selling individual leaves or pages to collectors and institutions. He would disassemble bound illuminated manuscripts and sell them as separate pieces or as a collection of works, thereby dispersing the original works.

This is one of four Otto F. Ege collections owned by the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library before treatment. It is titled Original Leaves from Famous Bibles, Nine Centuries 1121-1935 AD (call number R090 ffB582). It came to the lab for better long term storage.

Villain

From the perspective of some scholars and conservators, Ege’s actions are viewed as unethical today. By breaking up unique historic manuscripts, he caused irreparable damage to the cultural, historical, and scholarly heritage they represented. The dispersal of these manuscripts makes it challenging for researchers to study them as cohesive and complete works, leading to a loss of valuable historical information and artistic context.

Hero

On the other hand, some might argue that Ege’s actions had positive effects. By selling individual leaves, he made rare and exquisite artworks more accessible to a broader audience, including institutions and collectors who might not have been able to afford an entire manuscript. This enabled more people to appreciate the beauty and artistry of these ancient texts.

Conclusion

Otto Ege’s legacy is a complex one, and opinions about him vary widely. However, it is essential to note that Ege’s actions occurred in a different time when the appreciation for medieval manuscripts as complete works of art was not as prevalent as it is today. Modern views on preservation and the importance of maintaining cultural heritage have evolved significantly. Ultimately, his actions highlight the ethical and moral dilemmas surrounding cultural heritage and the need for responsible stewardship of historically significant artifacts.

Treatment and Storage of the Public Library’s Collections

The Public Library owns four collections by Ege. Each have been receiving treatment to better improve their long-term storage. After the smaller collections received successful treatment, this larger collection followed suite.

Treatment

In their original format, the manuscript leaves were hinged to floppy paper folders with windows cut out for viewing. The original hinges were thick cloth, and in many cases, no longer functioning as the hinges became stuck in place. This prevented viewing the backs of the materials. The flexible folders overtime became U-shaped and were in need of supports to keep materials planar, especially during handling.

Individual leaves were unmounted from the original paper folders and re-hinged with kozo tissue and wheat starch paste onto archival 2 ply mat board supports. The mat board supports were then placed within the paper folders. Unbuffered interleaving tissue was then added between the manuscript and the folder window for long term storage to prevent the edges of the window from catching or rubbing onto the objects.

Armenian manuscript hinged to 2ply mat board support, stored within the original paper folder

Interleaving tissue protects the face of the manuscripts from rubbing along the edges of the windows

Storage

While other collections were retained within their original enclosures with a protective chemise, this portfolio was acidic and deformed with broken ties, so two new corrugated banker’s boxes were created to retain the original enclosure and store the manuscripts separately.

Additional Resources

The Public Library also owns Ege collections titled Fifty Original Leaves from Medieval Manuscript Western Europe: XII‐XVI century (call number R096.1 ffF469), Fifteen original oriental manuscript leaves of six centuries (call number 096.1 ffF469f), and Original Leaves from Famous Books, Eight Centuries 1240 A.D. – 1923 A.D. (call number R094 ff069).

The collection Fifty Original Leaves from Medieval Manuscripts is digitized and is available online in the digital library.

There are also multiple copies of the printed pamphlet by Otto Ege titled Pre‐Alphabet days. Interestingly, Genealogy and Local History own two copies in different formats. One copy is a cased‐in hardback with a single sewn gathering while the other copy is a single gathering pamphlet sewn into a paper case. Both pamphlets are original formats that would have been offered to buyers at different price points!

If you’re interested in further treatment details, check out our treatment reports on the Digital Resource Commons by searching for Otto Ege.

Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer [CHPL] – Special Collections Conservator, Lab Manager

Just Peachey: Jeff’s Conservation Hand Tools Workshop

For one week in July, 2024, the Preservation Lab busted out belt sanders and opened the elbow grease to host a workshop taught by Jeff Peachey, learning all about making, modifying and maintaining our own hand tools. Jeff, a book conservator and master tool maker, brought all kinds of fun machinery and exciting tools for us to learn from and use. From hacksaws to pencil sharpeners, Jeff’s tool collection is inspiring, and we all left the week with some amazing new additions to our bench.

A set of raw materials each participant received at the beginning of the week to shape into their own personal new tool set! Credit: Jeff Peachey

Delrin

We started the week off working with Delrin. Delrin, an acetal homopolymer plastic that appears similar to Teflon, was easy to shape with saws, files, scrapers and silicon carbide sandpapers. We burnished with sanding pads and polishing paper.

We started off with Delrin rods that we shaped into delicate heras. Heras are thin tools with spatula-like ends that Jeff says are great for delicate prying, inserting small amounts of adhesive, and lifting tape to name a few of the uses for this handy little tool.

We made a rough cut of the shape we wanted with the bandsaw, then smoothed everything out by going through a sandpaper grit progression. Once we’d crafted these, many of us tried our hand at making versatile Delrin folders. With lots of filing and sanding, this malleable Delrin was easy to manipulate into a variety of tool shapes, and no two tools were exactly alike.

A Delrin hera created by Holly. Credit: Holly Prochaska

Ashleigh uses a saw to shape her Delrin. Credit: Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer

Jeff demonstrates how to work with Delrin. Credit: Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer

Knives

Our second and third days with Jeff were all about M2 steel knifes, both sharpening them and making them. We learned all about using Jeff’s sharpening system and honed down our own Peachey paring knife. We also made two lifting knives out of Starrett 32T hacksaw blades by grinding the blades down on a belt sander and then taking them through the sharpening system with microfinishing films to achieve a sharp edge.

A progression of 3M Microfinishing Films adhered to a glass plate for sharpening. Credit: Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer

A Peachey knife next to a sharpening system on marble. Credit: Holly Prochaska

Sharpening knives turned out to be a complex process – a burr must be formed at each grit gradient before moving on to the finer grind, and if your hand position is off this could take some time. Furthermore, the wrong hand position could yield a bevel angle too big or too small on the plane of the knife. We aimed for an ideal bevel angle between 11 and 13 degrees.

Specular light shows a raw bevel angle during sharpening, before it has been ground smooth on the first grit progression. Credit: Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer

Additional Knife Features

Some people chose to add grooves into the sides of their paring knives for a more comfortable grip; some of us chose to wrap our knife handles in leather and make horse butt sheaths for them. Matt was the bravest of all and mounted a custom carved wooden handle to his left-handed paring knife.

Catarina finishes a groove on the belt sander to make it more comfortable to hold. Credit: Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer

Grained Book Cloth

We also went over creating 19^th century grained book cloth on our third day. Through toning, glazing, then pressing with a die that has your desired pattern, it’s possible to create book cloth that mimics the textures of 19^th century book cloth. After going through the time-consuming process, the idea of making up large batches at one time became appealing.

Jeff demos coating a cotton muslin with acrylics and paste, pressing the coated cloth with screens to add a grain, then finishing with an egg glare. Credit: Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer

Jeff’s samples he made ahead of the workshop

Wood and Bamboo

On our fourth day we learned all about wood and bamboo carving. Using a chisel, wood plane or hatchet, we created the crude shape we wanted our wooden tools to take. Then we got to work sanding until the wood was smooth, and created a more precise shape. A final finish with nose grease or wax was optional.

Jeff’s workbench after his wood carving demo. Credit: Jessica Ebert

Bamboo is great for creating thin, flexible tools. With our pieces of wood most of us created folders, but a few decided to make wooden handles for their knives or straight edges. Personally, my favorite tool I created the whole week was my wooden folder I made, though it was probably the hardest to create. I had to shape it using a small hatchet, then sand it for quite some time before it took on the shape that I wanted.

Jeff demonstrating how to carve our piece of wood using his proprietary bench hook. Credit: Jessica Ebert

Holly chiseling a piece of bamboo using a generic bench hook. Credit: Jessica Ebert

My new wood folder. Credit: Nicole Browning

Stainless Steel

Our final day with Jeff was spent shaping stainless steel tools, which to me was the hardest material we worked with, as it took a lot of patience with the belt sander, and the metal was prone to heating up quickly and potentially burning our fingers. We created straight edges or 45 degree triangles, and even learned how to drill holes and attach small handles to these tools. We also had a thicker piece of stainless steel for creating a folder, which I found the most challenging of all. The stainless steel was harder to manipulate, understandably, and much less forgiving than the wood or Delrin.

Two stainless steel folders made and engraved by Jessica. Credit: Jessica Ebert

We ended the week by testing the sharpness of our blades and doing a little show and tell of our favorite tools that we made. It was so amazing to see all the different tool shapes people were inspired to make based upon what they most used in their work.

My assortment of tools I made at the workshop. From left to right: bamboo lifters, two Delrin Heras, two lifting knifes, a Delrin folder, a paring knife and its sheath, and a wooden folder. Credit: Nicole Browning

Learning from Jeff was such an amazing opportunity, and it was so eye-opening and world-expanding to learn that so many of these tools we use every day can be created from our own hands.

Jeff did a fabulous job tailoring his tool-making workshop to the the availability of machinery and other logistics of our facility. As a result, the actual tools made in our version of this workshop vary from other workshops Jeff has taught, empowering us to keep making tools with our space in the future. If you ever have the chance to take this workshop, we highly recommend it!

Be sure to check out this Instagram post by Jeff featuring all of us showing off our favorite hand tools we created!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jeff Peachey (@jeffpeachey)

Nicole Browning [CHPL] – Conservation Assistant

Meet Me at Main: Exhibit Prep for Reopening!

After a 43 million dollar renovation spanning three and a half years, the CHPL downtown library reopened July 12th, 2024!

In preparation for reopening, the Preservation Lab has been working closely with a variety of CHPL staff to prepare collection items and exhibit cases for display.

To celebrate the dramatic reveal of updates, we’ve provided before and after pictures of the Main downtown library followed by a sneak peek at some of the exhibits.

Main Library Before, During, and After Renovations

Installation of scaffolding for skylight maintenance

July 12th, 2024 – Opening Day! A view of the atrium with a new social staircase.

Exhibits

Exhibit prep work consisted of treatment, matting, creating custom supports, install on site (and more!) for eight different exhibits!

1. Eugenia Rhein Doll Collection

Eugenia holds a Spanish doll wearing a cofrades hat symbolizing penance, often worn on Easter

Located in the Nolan Room (namesake of John T. Nolan Jr, president of the board of trustees from 1951-1983, known as “Jack”), are a collection of dolls from all over the world, representing nearly 100 countries. The dolls were gifted to the Library by Eugenia Rhein who was an administration assistant and a deeply committed employee for over 40 years. During Eugenia’s extensive travels she collected the dolls from countries such as Kuwait, Algeria, Rhodesia, Korea, Pakistan, Whales and more. In the 1970’s the dolls were often used in displays at the library to tell stories about children from other cultures by the Children’s Librarian.

Image of Eugenia is courtesy of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library.

The Nolan Room

Now open to the public, this uniquely round room is located on the third floor next to the tower room.

During Doll Installation

Matt McCoy cleans the glass inside and out

Dolls were examined for condition during install. Dolls too fragile (or broken) were left stored in their corrugated clamshells. Dolls in good condition were carefully placed on stands, secured around their waste. Larger dolls required special strapping or additional supports to secure the object in place. Minor treatment was performed on site to repair dolls, reduce creasing in outfits, or clean dust and debris.

2. Veterans Exhibit

Located on the second floor at the top of the social staircase, a new purpose built space was built for the Veteran’s exhibit where artifacts are displayed in concert with stories provided by a digital exhibit and recorded interviews. The Book of Homage is highlighted with the pages turned periodically to reveal lists of names. Original War Bond posters, that were conserved and matted by the Preservation Lab, show the Victory Book Campaign requesting Americans donate books to their local library. War Bond posters will be rotated periodically to protect the vibrant printed colors from fading and the papers from darkening, but perhaps more importantly, show the wide range of art and messages conveyed during times of war.

New purpose-built Veterans exhibit the day of opening

One of my favorite war bond posters drawn by DR. SEUSS! (Not currently on display but available upon request.)

3. Real Art for Young Artists: Original Illustrations from Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells

This exhibit, initially installed in the North building in 2019, was moved to the NEW children’s library location, now on the first floor in the renovated South building.

New Children’s Library

Updated Exhibit Location

The exhibit showcases original hand-drawn illustrations created for the book Noisy Nora, donated to the library by the author and artist, Rosemary Wells.

Original 2019 location in North building

Exhibit Preparation

Luckily, much of the exhibit prep work had already been completed in 2018 for the initial installation (you can read about the original conservation and matting of the illustrations here that are UV protected and waterproof!), but now it was time for maintenance and upkeep.

In particular, the glazing on the frames had developed an iridescent coating residue from well-intentioned cleaners. This made detailed viewing of the illustrations problematic.

Other issues stemmed from the art being at children’s height. The matting and glazing packages had come loose from the frames in a few instances from being pushed inward. Others, such as the illustration “Jack had gotten filthy” had been drawn on with yellow crayon. The crayon marks were not easily removable and needed evaluation by the conservation team to improve.

Despite these issues, due to our forward-thinking work in 2018, the tightly sealed matting packages kept the original artwork completely safe and undamaged. Improvements required adjustments to the frames only!

Before exhibit maintenance, the glazing of the matting package suffers from being drawn on by crayons

Before exhibit maintenance, a matting package was pushed into the frame

During treatment, the matting package is secured with strong nails to the inside of the frame rather than using the folding metal tabs

After treatment the art is secured in the frames and the UV coated glazing is clean

4. History of the Library

With the establishment of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library in 1853, it’s no surprise that it’s one of the oldest libraries in the county and thus full of history to highlight! This physical exhibition beautifully compliments the online virtual exhibit located here.

The physical exhibit is located on the 3rd floor in the Cincinnati Room along the connector where special collections are carefully monitored while on display with specialized light, humidity and temperature controls.

On view are captivating images of the iconic lost library of Vine Street as well as other branch locations, many of which are Carnegie buildings. You can also get up close and personal with past library technologies and special collection objects such as stained glass from the original Vine Street location.

View inside Cincinnati Room
Physical exhibit complements digital exhibt
Original stained glass fragments
Card catalog sorter
Stereoview, lantern slide projector, and paper piano rolls
Special collection ledgers

For this exhibit (and many others!), Conservation Specialist, Matt McCoy worked diligently to replace non-archival black felts at the base of the cases with fresh polyester velvet covered boards. This great improvement is not only archival, but no longer slips and slides when objects are set in place and it’s easily removable to clean crumbs of books off with a brush.

Matt created custom boards covered in polyester velvet in the lab…

5. Circulating Art Books

Located on the third floor of the South building, these stylish 1950’s cases were also refreshed by the lab with new bases of polyester velvet covered boards.

Currently on display are a variety of beautiful art books, sometimes referred to as coffee-table books. Unlike materials in the Cincinnati Room, these materials can be checked out and taken home!

Interested in an art book you see? Scan the QR code to check out any of the titles on display!

6. Birds of America by John James Audubon

Located in the reading room, named the Cincinnati Room, on the 3rd floor connector is where one of the library’s most famous special collection items lives. This item is proudly back on display after resting during renovations. It is the early 19th century double elephant folio known for its gigantic size: the Birds of America Vols. 1-4 by John James Audubon.

With pages that are turned once a week, their grandeur enables you to see the birds represented to scale! Even the flamingo is life size (albeit the neck is wrapped around the page instead of upright).

The Washington Sea Eagle is nearly four feet tall, located in Volume 1.

Exhibit Installation

Cleaning the cases was the first step before installation as they were covered in construction dust inside and out! Before main closed for renovations, the Cincinnati Museum Center modified these cases for us so that the beds pull out for easy access. Their generous modifications were provided as a thank you for loaning all four volumes of the Birds of America for their 2019 exhibit titled In the Audubon Tradition and were a wonderful improvement!

Volumes are protected with custom wrappers. Wrappers consist of strong but lightweight Dibond, archival corrugated board, cloth spines, and ethafoam sheeting secured with cloth ties.

Volumes are also covered in polyester jackets

These heavy books require at least two people to carry

Books are supported with hinging cradles from Benchmark Catalog. The cradles adjust to the weight of the book when pages are turned.

Polyethylene strapping attaches to back of the cradles with Velcro. Strapping protects pages from sagging due to gravity.

The digitized pages are available on a touch screen next to the display case. Nearby, the 1848 eight-plate daguerreotype panorama is also on display!

Supplemental Materials

Perhaps less well-known but just as captivating are the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio. In nearby cases, these supplemental materials beautifully complement the Birds of America.

Read more about this amazing collection item that was recently on exhibit March 2024 at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra here and see images of the vibrantly colored lithographs. Or, check out the book America’s Other Audubon by Joy Kiser to see reproductions of the illustrations and learn about the female artist and her family who produced them.

The prospectus of Nests and Eggs is temporarily on display that may have been owned by the illustrator, Gabrielle Estelle Jones, used to entice funders

View the original Nests and Eggs by requesting the material in the Cincinnati Room

Check out and take home this reference material with reproductions of the illustrations and learn about the history of how they’re made

7. Satellite display of reference materials about the Birds of America

Located near the 1950’s cases on the 3rd floor of the South building are supplemental materials relating to the Birds of America. For example, John James Audubon also collaborated with his two sons to depict 150 plates of four-legged animals. While the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library owns these two original volumes which can be viewed in the Cincinnati Room, this display shows reference materials relating to such items.

8. The Inland Rivers Steamboat Exhibition

This exhibit utilizes the Inland Rivers Collection at CHPL to illustrate the historic steamboat and river culture in the region. It is located on the 2nd floor connector.

While much of the materials in the exhibit are owned by the Public Library, some of the more unique treasures are on loan from the Cincinnati Museum Center who provided items such as a heavy life preserver made of cork and a leather-bound bible with handwritten inscriptions salvaged from steamboat wreckage.

Exhibit Installation

Exhibit Installation consisted of creating custom 3-D supports for special collection items on loan while CHPL materials were supported with flat mat board supports. Photographs were mounted to archival boards to prevent them from curling in changes of ambient humidity.

Creating a soft yet strong custom support for the life preserver

Three people are necessary to lift the vitrines safely over objects within these cases

This steamboat relic was previously mounted and matted at the Preservation Lab by Chris Voynovich

Steamboat salvaged bible needed strapping and a custom cradle to show the handwritten inscription

View of Inland Rivers Steamboat Exhibit from the opposite end of the connector

With so many exhibits and a variety of content for all ages be sure to head downtown and visit them in person!

Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer [CHPL] – Conservator and Conservation Lab Co-Manager

Bonus Images of Main

The new Story Center with large touch screens for digital exhibits

Learning the Basics

Hi! I’m Nicole, and I’m the newest member of the Preservation Lab.

Nicole Browning makes a corrugated clamshell enclosures

When I was interviewing for the position of Conservation Assistant, I did a deep dive into what preservation and conservation really mean. I read through blog posts and perused the Lab’s Instagram, trying to get a grasp on what exactly the lab did. Little did I know, these snapshots into lab life hardly even scratched the surface.

Materials and Tools

My first week as a Conservation Assistant was full of learning, from what types of boards and paper supplies are available, to how to create a pamphlet binder and sew music scores. I had no idea there were so many types of paper out there, and I was ignorant about how many tools there exist simply to cut these pieces of paper. My hand skills were immediately put to the test with learning the stitches used to attach pamphlets to protective premade binders, which create a hard cover for these otherwise soft materials. I was also instructed in which methods of cutting are best for which practices and types of paper, such as board shears for larger pieces of Bristol or corrugated board, scalpels and Olfas for small, precision cutting, and even a corner cutter to clean up the corners of your pamphlet binders!

A music score lays on a bench with a needle and thread used for conservation sewing. — *Sewing parts of a music score with a needle and thread.*

Enclosures

Over the next few weeks, I was thrust into a whole new world of enclosures after learning about pamphlet binders and music scores. Enclosures are typically boxes that are used to keep a book or object safe from light, dust, and other environmental factors that can harm the item over time.

Tuxedo boxes

Creating tuxedo boxes was an exciting and fun challenge, as getting all the measurements right and being precise is so important. These boxes take a lot of focus to make, and attaching the two pieces of board can be daunting, as you must make sure not to overlap the folds and ruin the whole box.

View of a tuxedo box opened next to the book it will house.

A finished tuxedo box on the left, and the two pieces of an unfinished tuxedo box opened to show the full spread of the box on the right.

Corrugated Clamshells

Corrugated clamshell boxes came next, with their in depth measuring and precision crimping and cutting. Like a tuxedo box, these boxes offer better storage from light and dust, and are a more structured enclosure. Where they differ, though, is they are made from corrugated board rather than Bristol board, and this offers more support to items that need a little boost of structural help. These boxes are made from one piece of board that is cut and folded into a clam-like box that opens on one end and is attached at the spine.

A flat corrugated blue board that has been cut and pre-folded, ready to form into a box. — *A corrugated clamshell during the construction process. This clamshell still needs it’s ends glued in to create it’s box shape.*

General Collections Treatment

My final big learning project was cloth tape removal, which was something completely different, making it very enjoyable to learn. Cloth tape removal is taking off old adhesive tape that has been applied to materials that is now falling apart. To remove cloth tape, a poultice of methyl cellulose is applied in thirds to the tape. Introducing moisture to the adhesive allows you to slowly and carefully use a Casselli microspatula to loosen and remove the tape, leaving behind only the original materials.

An old pamphlet that’s been bound together with cloth tape in the middle of the removal process. Weights hold down pieces of Mylar to keep the pamphlet cover from absorbing any of the poultice. The cloth tape is the grey strip on the right of the pamphlet, and you can see where some of the tape has been removed and what still needs to be done.

Final Impressions

I’ve learned so much over my first month at the lab, but so far corrugated clamshells have been my favorite. It’s been so fun to grow my hand skills and to see how much of a difference one month can make, and I’m so excited to expand my horizons and learn more about the lab in the upcoming months!

Nicole Browning, Conservation Assistant [CHPL]

Preservation Week Panel Discussion on Public Digital Collections of Conservation Treatment Documentation

For Preservation Week 2024, Duke University Libraries will host a virtual panel discussion about Public Digital Collections of Conservation Treatment Documentation on Thursday May 2 at 11 am EDT. Conservation representatives from four institutions (The British Museum, The Preservation Lab (Cincinnati, Ohio), Duke University Libraries, and Stanford Libraries) will share their experiences in building and sharing their institutions’ digital collections of conservation treatment documentation. Panelists will introduce their collections and discuss topics such as digital preservation of treatment records, metadata creation, linking to catalog records and finding aids, and potential privacy and copyright issues.

The free webinar will take place at 11 am Eastern Daylight Time (8 am Pacific Daylight Time/ 4 pm British Summer Time) and will last 60-70 minutes. The panel will be recorded and the video will be shared with registered attendees upon request.

A recording of the webinar and available resources is now available in this shared folder.

Additional information

Host

Beth Doyle, Preservation Officer; Leona B. Carpenter Senior Conservator; and Head, Conservation Services Department (she/her)

Panelists

Louisa Burden, Head of Conservation, British Museum
Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer, Book and Paper Conservator, Co-Lab Manager, (she/her)
Erin Hammeke, Senior Conservator for Special Collections, Duke University Libraries (she/they)
Ryan Lieu, Conservation Operations Coordinator, Stanford Libraries (he/him)

Collection Links

British Museum

Duke University Libraries

Preservation Lab

Stanford Libraries

Further Info

If you’re attending the American Institute for Conservation’s annual meeting, either virtually or in-person, be sure to attend the talk Demystifying our Metadata: Making Conservation Documentation Accessible in The Digital Library at the University of Illinois where I look forward to hearing about their solutions for similar challenges we faced when beginning our collection in 2015!

Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer, Conservator [CHPL]

Nests and Eggs on Display at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio are on display at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra March 1^st and 2^nd as part of a musical program honoring Oliver Messiaen who was both a major composer of the 20^th century and an ornithologist.

Synesthesia

Oliver Messiaen is well known for studying bird songs and interpreting their notes into musical transcriptions. His works are also unique in that Messiaen experienced synesthesia which greatly influenced his creations. Synesthesia is when a person perceives more than one sense at a time, such as Messiaen who experienced colors when listening to music and was able to see sounds.

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Program

The program at the CSO honors Messiaen by incorporating both music, color, and bird visuals to invite the audience to experience a unique multi-sensory experience. Messiaen’s Des canyons aux étoiles (“From the Canyons to the Stars”) will be performed by the conductor, Matthias Pintscher, and pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard.

Click the image for a link to the digital program for the CSO Proof: *From the Canyons to the Stars*

“Inspired by his visits to Utah’s Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park, Messiaen’s Des canyons aux étoiles (“From the Canyons to the Stars”) depicts the birdsong and red rock hues he experienced during his time in the desert… Accompanied by immersive video-art, Springer Auditorium will be transformed, allowing listeners to escape into the southwestern landscape and experience a synesthesia of their own.” – As described by the CSO website

Nests and Eggs

Complementing the musical performances, on display will be a page from Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s Illustrations of the nests and eggs. The page showcases a local Ohio native, the Wood Thrush, who lays bright blue colored eggs within a nest made of old leaves, dried grasses and moss (rarely sticks). The nest of the Wood Thrush also contains “rootlets” placed intentionally inside of the nest, resulting in a pinkish brown or black lining. The nest is “plastered” with a thin mud that is easily missed as it’s thoroughly worked in and covered.

Nests and Eggs, while lesser known than Audubon’s Birds of America, is quite extraordinary in how it highlights the uniqueness of the construction of nests made by different bird species. Take for instance, the Baltimore Oriole’s nest, which primarily consists of strings and flax fibers to create a soft and long pocket. Compare that to the more traditional nest of the Wood Thrush whose home is bowl-shaped with a wide opening.

It’s also extraordinary that the illustrations are detailed lithographic portraits created by Gabrielle Estelle Jones and her family, despite not having been formally trained. Their work was intended to be used as a companion volume to John James Audubon’s Birds of America. While not as large as the Birds of America double elephant folios, Eggs and Nests is still an impressively large-sized volume.

Gabrielle “Gennie” Estelle Jones

The following excerpt was written by Sara Williams, Arts & Special Collections Reference Librarian:

Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio was a project begun by Genevieve Estelle Jones, a native of Circleville, Ohio. Born May 13, 1847, Genevieve, or Gennie, spent much time as a young girl birdwatching in the woods and wetlands with her father, an amateur ornithologist. Just before the age of 30, Jones’ father forbade her from marrying the man she loved, and in 1876, she visited the Centennial World’s Fair in Philadelphia to take her mind off her broken heart. While there, she viewed hand-colored engravings from John James Audubon’s vibrant The Birds of America. Inspired by Audubon’s example, Jones set out to illustrate the nests and eggs of birds, an aspect often missing from his work. Jones completed only five illustrations for her book before she died of typhoid at the age of 32. The work was eventually completed by Genevieve Jones’ family. Only 90 copies of the book were published, of which only 34 are currently known to exist.

Preservation

As part of the Preservation Lab’s role in displaying the object, a condition report book was created to accompany the item to ensure the object’s condition is preserved. This helps those who are installing anticipate any possible challenges in supporting fragile pages or bindings. In this case, the upper endsheets are extremely brittle and have been previously repaired, but could break again if not carefully draped and held with polyester strapping in a safe manner.

After determining a proper exhibit case to fit and secure the binding, a custom cradle was made. To protect weak points of the binding on display, a support was constructed out of 8 ply museum mat board to support the heavy and oversized pages from stress along the joint.

Solutions were tested to fit within an 18 inch deep case, however, the book was just too large!

A custom 8 ply mat board cradle was created to fit within a more appropriate 4 ft case. Pages are strapped with polyester strapping

Before an object travels, it’s often reviewed to make sure it can handle transport and treated if necessary. Luckily, in this case, the binding was treated in 2016 and is still in great condition for its age. When it received treatment, at that time it received a lightweight yet strong enclosure that will also work well to safely protect the item for travel to the CSO.

Corrugated banker’s box with a drop spine houses the Nests and Eggs book. Binding and exhibit labels are ready for packing.

A 4-foot case was kindly loaned to the CSO from the Behringer-Crawford Museum and is ready for use! (Image credit: Amber Ostaszewski)

Entrance to the Founder’s Room
Bird sounds were played in the entryway
During staging of the exhibit
Nests and eggs on display in the Founder’s Room
The Founder’s Room
Night of the performance
Entering the theatre
Not visible are the camping chairs and fire pits in the orchestra pit

Additional Resources

Interested in seeing more Nests and Eggs? The entire binding is conserved and digitized where it is made publicly available online. More information about Gennie’s fascinating and tragic history can be read at the Linda Hall website.

CSO Program Dates

There are two programs where you can view the item on display, Friday, March 1^st and Saturday, March 2^nd, both at 8pm at the Music Hall. Interested? Click here for the digital program.

We hope to see you there!

Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer [CHPL] – Book and Paper Conservator, Co-Lab Manager

Unexpected History in a Photograph Collection

Catarina and I are working on rehousing a large series of College of Engineering class composites from the mid-1950s through the early 2000s. It is a fantastic visual timeline of 20^th century photographic processes. It also perfectly charts cultural shifts through the decades (so many haircuts and mustaches!) There was even a gentleman that I sang in Chorus with during my years as a student here! But even beyond all of that, there were some unexpected tiny bits of Cincinnati history. The University handles its own photography now, but that wasn’t always the case. The early class composites were done by local businesses. The bulk of them were done by three now-defunct studios: Pogue, Shillito’s, and Rob Paris Photography. If you are a Cincinnati native, you may have heard of them. If you are of a certain age, you may even have had your portraits done by one or all of them. (I personally had portraits taken at Shillito’s as a child.) What a fun little piece of history. Of all the things that I enjoy about working with the photographs in our collections, I think the unexpected finds may be my favorite!

The imprint of the H & S Pogue Department Store.
Imprint of Rob Paris studio.
Photographer’s stamp found of the verso of several of the Rob Paris composites.
Imprint of the Shillito’s photo studio.

Hyacinth Tucker —- (UCL) Conservation Technician and Bindery Coordinator

Preservation and Exhibition: DAAP Library’s Teaching Collection & Upcoming Gallery Talk (12/5)

For the past six months, Jessica and Catarina have been working with the DAAP Library on housing their Teaching art collection, including prior acquisition and newly acquired items. This collection consists of different art prints on paper, print plates and manuscript parchment leaves in need of long-term housing. In addition to housing, this collection is used for teaching in a classroom setting and for exhibition.

Most of the collection only requires simple matting systems, but some require more intricate matting systems such as the copper plate along with its print, a project mentioned in a previous blog post entitled How many magnets is too many magnets!?.

As some of the items of this collection were being prepared to go on exhibit, we had the opportunity to create mounts for other items, such as two parchment scrolls that were included in the exhibit. This was a fun project to work on, as it required us to create a support that would secure both scrolls, while providing an elegant solution for display.

To start, Jessica created a very rough small model with mat board, polyethylene strapping, and paper (as we always do with anything new in the lab, we do love model making!!). The model provided us the visual example that we needed to create the mount for the two scrolls.

Scroll mock-up — Small rough model created by Jessica

With the model in mind, we were able to engineer a good system that would provide support for the scrolls and could be used for display. The scrolls were supported with foam rolls on the inside for the rolled ends, and secured with polyethylene strapping that only touched the foam. The sections of the scrolls that were going to be displayed were also secured with polyethylene strapping that wrapped around the mat board support through slits in the board. At the bottom, the mat board extended outwards creating a small shelf to support the end of the scroll.

Two scrolls mounted to mat board with strapping — Scrolls mounted and ready for exhibition.

A small “shelf” of mat board supports the bottom of the scrolls.

Catarina adjusting the strapping on the mount.
A small “shelf” of mat board supports the bottom of the scrolls.
A small “shelf” of mat board supports the bottom of the scrolls.
The foam rolls support the inside of the scrolls and are secured with polyethylene strapping.
Jessica securing the foam roll that supports the scroll.

As a result of all the mounting and matting we did for the Teaching Art collection and for the scrolls, each item is currently on display at the DAAP Library entrance case:

Image of the exhibit — Current display at the DAAP Library featuring the Teaching Art Collection.

Close up of the scroll mounted on exhibit — A close-up of the scroll mounted on exhibition.

If you are interested in learning more about our preservation considerations for exhibition of this collection, Catarina and Jessica will be giving a short gallery talk on Tuesday, December 5th at 1pm, at the DAAP Library entrance on the 5th floor.

Catarina Figueirinhas [UCL] – Assistant Conservator

Interested in starting a career in conservation? Join us!

The Preservation Lab, a partnership to preserve and conserve the collections of the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library and the University of Cincinnati Libraries, seeks applicants for a Conservation Assistant position.

The Conservation Assistant is a technician level position with on-the-job training that may appeal to emerging conservation professionals. This position will join a collaborative team of 7 full-time staff members, including conservators, a preservation librarian, technicians, student workers and volunteers to preserve collections from both institutions. The Preservation Lab staff consists of both Cincinnati Public Library and the University Library members. This position is a Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library position but is stationed at the University of Cincinnati West campus.

The successful candidate will demonstrate the ability to execute hands-on work with skill.

Founded in 1853, the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library today is one of the busiest and most highly acclaimed library systems in the United States, providing service to over 800,000 residents through a network of 40 branch libraries, a major downtown Main Library, and a Distribution Center. CHPL holds one of the largest genealogical collections in the United States and many other specialized collections, most of which are housed in the Main library.

Pay rate begins at $15.87/hour.

Deadline to Apply: Dec 1, 2023

For more information about job duties and how to apply, please visit the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library website.

Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer, Special Collections Conservator [CHPL]