To celebrate national Preservation Week (April 25 – May1, 2021), staff at the Preservation Lab are sharing the following answers to the question below as they reflect upon the wealth of library resources located in the Cincinnati community: 

What is your favorite treatment or project that you have worked on in the Lab?

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Of all the projects I have worked on at the Preservation Lab, this item is by far one of my ultimate favorite treatments I was able to perform. This book was brought to the Preservation Lab in poor condition. The book had no binding, the text block was split in multiple areas, the sewing was broken, and several pages of the text block where either torn or had extensive loss. In addition, most of the text block showed signs of water damage. Since this book was in such poor condition and the curator of the collection wanted the book to be handled by scholars and the public, it was necessary to do a full conservation treatment.  

I was thrilled when I got assigned to this book treatment. I love to work on any book, but the more complicated or involved treatments the better and this was definitely the case. In this treatment, I was able to repair the text block, reduce some of the tideline staining, fill losses and resew the entire text block, while also creating a new binding (called a split board binding) that is strong and flexible to allow such a heavy book to be read.  

This treatment took a long time to complete, and to this day it is still one of the projects that I have enjoyed the most. Click here to see the complete treatment report and all the photographic documentation. To learn more about conservation split board bindings, check out the Preservation Lab blog post by Kasie and Jessica. 

Washing and rebinding treatments are always a favorite when they come across my bench, as they allow a highly damaged item to become usable and accessible once again. An account book of Jones and Rammelsberg offered one such treatment as it came to the lab with a myriad of issues: a damaged book block without a binding, corroding iron gall ink, previous mold damage, and a shocking amount of pest evidence. The treatment is incredibly memorable because to tackle the issues of aging iron gall ink I was able wash the pages of the book block using a calcium phytate bath to stabilize the manuscript. Once the washing was complete, I was able to resew and rebind the book block, making it whole, functional, and protected once again. It is rare and special to have done such an involved treatment, but in this case the in-depth steps allowed previous damage to be treated and helped remedy the inherent vice of aging materials.  

Curious about what some of this process looks like? Check out our Preservation Lab Instagram, @thepreservationlab, and see our Phytate Treatment Stories! 

The lab creates a lot of models. Many of these models are made in preparation for treatments.  However, some models are created with instruction or engagement in mind.  These models, such as the Italian stationery binding (laminated archival bind) I created, help illustrate the history of the book as its form and manufacturing process change over time.  Check out the model at the blog entry where you can see a video of the binding being handled.  Follow the instructions on the blog make you very own, and in the future, come see it for yourself when our in-person open houses resume in the future. 

I particularly enjoy the problem solving nature of special collection treatments and thus, my “favorite” treatment is usually the one I’m working on. Currently, I’m treating a Haggadah owned by Hebrew Union College that dates to 1526 or 1527. While I’ve treated other haggadahs from HUC, including this one, this project involved iron gall ink treatment AND rebinding a textblock with two different sized leaves, or pages, into its original historic leather cover.  Because the binding had been previously treated and reformatted with materials that did not age well, collaboration with the librarians at HUC required exploration into whether we wanted to re-create the past reformatting option with longer lasting materials, or perhaps, explore a new option altogether. Before we committed to a solution, I created a model to test out a new option since unanticipated questions or outcomes often arise during experimental pursuits.  For that reason, it’s better to problem solve on a model, rather than on an actual special collection material.  In the end, the librarians and I were happy with the results of the new option, and I’m currently at the stage where I’m ready to start rebinding the pages of the actual object.

Not only was this piece based on a favorite subject of mine (I love Shakespeare!), this was a historic photograph treatment I was able to handle with just a little guidance.  I was able to properly identify the photographic elements on the first try, performed a surface cleaning on the piece, and created my very first cloth-covered clamshell and cradle to house it. It was such a wealth of learning experiences within one project, which is the best part of my work! 

One of my favorite aspects of the job here, in the lab, is designing and creating custom enclosures. This collection of rare daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes is an example of adapting a standard cloth covered clamshell to accommodate a collection. I created two trays with pull tabs that are removable for easy access and display. Each photograph has its own tuxedo box and is set in polyethylene foam (Volara) for protection. The tuxedo box enclosures are identical in size to reduce confusion while repacking. Check out this blog created by Jessica that shows a gif of the enclosure opening and closing, and this blog post showing a similar enclosure I created for a dairy collection. 

In case you missed, head over to the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library’s blog where Holly shared some of the Lab staff’s favorite tools and equipment yesterday.

Today at 3pm (EST) join Jessica and Catarina on the Preservation Lab’s Instagram (@thepreservationlab) for a quick, informal Instagram Live.

Then tomorrow, make sure to tune into the Public Library’s Instagram (@cincylibrary) at 12pm (EST) for an in-depth Instagram Live event where Catarina and Jessica will be sharing treatments they are currently working on; giving you a behind-the-scenes look and answering all your questions “Live in the Lab”.

Finally, Friday a new video will be posted on the Preservation Lab’s YouTube channel.

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