Smithsonian Libraries

The Fix: L’Assiette au Beurre

There are times when we receive items in the Book Conservation Lab that have been altered from their original format.  This was the case with a seven volume set of L’Assiette au Beurre, a French social protest magazine from the early twentieth century, from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Library.  

 

Before treatment – detached spine

 

The magazine was published from 1901-1912 and featured the drawings, mainly caricatures, by many well known artists such as Juan Gris, Théophile Alexandre Steinlen and Frank Kupka.  Through caricature, these artists poked fun at the wealthy, police, politicians, the military, the church, and other established or bourgeois groups as well as addressing social and political issues of the Belle Epoque era.

 

Covers

 

The individual issues had been bound commercially by year into modern buckram covered cloth bindings.  This oversewn binding structure placed considerable stress on the already brittle issues of the magazine causing damage and breakage. 

 

Cover in Bound Volumes

 

As a result, the decision was made to dis-bind the issues.  The issues were carefully removed from the binding, cleaned, repaired and then placed in individual Mylar L Sleeves.  The issues were then placed in custom made double tray boxes by year.  Researchers can now access any of the issues without unnecessary wear to the entire year’s run of issues.

 

 

After Shots of Box

— Katie Wagner

 

 

 

The Fix: Die Branchienschnecke

Welcome to our monthly preservation feature! We're calling it "The Fix". What do you think?

 

The Smithsonian Institution Libraries has hundreds of pamphlet bindings in its rare book collections bound during the mid to late 20th century when the long term effects of acidic bindings was not yet realized.  One of these pamphlets is “Die Branchienschnecke,” an article about snails from around 1820, by Franz von Paula Gruithuisen.  The pamphlet came to the Conservation Lab from the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History bound in an acidic pamphlet binder.  The acid from the binder had discolored the first and last pages of the pamphlet.  The paper was otherwise high quality and in good condition with one color plate.  Additionally, the pamphlet has the bookplate of William Healey Dall (1845-1927), the eminent malacologist who worked at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and donated hundreds of rare books and publications.

 

Before treatment – Pamphlet cover and bookplate

Before treatment – Title page and colored plate

 

Due to the discoloration of the paper, the paper was washed in de-ionized water and buffered in a Calcium Carbonate solution. After drying and pressing, the pages were re-sewn and a new case was created using handmade paper.  The bookplate was removed from the old acidic covers and placed in the same position on new acid-free end-papers.

 

 

After treatment – front cover and bookplate

 

After treatment – Title Page and Color Plate

The Smithsonian Institution Libraries has many pamphlets in need of repair.  Some of these pamphlets are part of the Adopt-A-Book Program. The program provides funds for the purchase or preservation of items for or in the library’s collection.

—Katie Wagner

Saving the Exposition Universelle De 1889

Exposition Universelle De 1889 is one of the many items about World’s Fairs in the SIL collection. It came to the Conservation Lab from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Library in New York. It consists of 23 plates depicting various houses from around the world as part of the “Human Habitat” section of the fair as well as 12 pages of introductory text. To put this in an historic perspective, this was the World’s Fair that took place in Paris, France with the newly completed Eiffel Tower as its entrance!

The item arrived in poor condition with soiled and water damaged paper. Tide marks from previous exposure to water were visible on every plate. The plates were housed in a portfolio that was missing the back cover. As a result of missing the cover, many of the plates were damaged at the corners and edges.

 

Before treatment - first page

 

Before treatment - plate with tide marks

 

Step one was to dry clean page with finely ground eraser crumbs. This is a relatively gentle way to remove surface dirt. The crumbs are rubbed over the soiled areas with the tips of the fingers. Multiple applications of the crumbs can be made. Due to the extensive tide marks from previous water damage, the decision was made to wash the plates in de-ionized water to remove impurities and tone down the tide marks. This may seem counterintuitive – why subject them to water again? The original exposure to water was partial and this results in the tide marks. By re-immersing the plates, the acid build up in the paper can be reduced and the tide marks washed mostly away.

 

During treatment paper washing

 

After washing and drying the plates were re-housed in a new, acid-free portfolio. The portfolio was covered in a stone patterned hand marbled paper, similar to the style of the original. An added custom fit enclosure was created so that the plates remain relatively immobile in their new home!

 

Plate, after conservation treatment.

After treatment new portfolio

— Katie Wagner

Treating Linnaeus

The Smithsonian Institution Libraries Book Conservation Laboratory recently completed treatment on the first Adopt-A-Book.  Through this donation program, donors can choose to sponsor a specific title in need of conservation treatment.

The first book, adopted by a California donor, was volume 3 of Vollständiges Natursystem by Carl Linnaeus.  The book came from the Joseph F. Cullman 3^rd Library of Natural History, one of several of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries’ rare book facilities.  It needed extensive treatment due to vermin and mold damage to every page of the book.  The original cover was deemed to have too much vermin damage to the boards to re-use.  However, the original cover was retained and stored with the re-bound volume for research purposes.

 

Before treatment - cover

Close-up of text damage

After careful examination, the decision was made to dis-bind the book to enable the cleaning of the pages.  The pages were stained from mold and water damage and the paper was mildly acidic. Every page was cleaned using fine grade eraser crumbs.  The pages were then washed in de-ionized water and buffered in a calcium carbonate solution. 

After being dried and pressed, the pages were repaired using Kizukishi Japanese paper to mend the areas of loss.

After treatment – title page

 The pages were then put back into their sections and re-sewn in a style similar to the original binding.  A paper case binding was created using hand-made flax paper sprinkled in the manner of the original cover. 

 A two-tiered box was created to house the original cover and the re-bound volume.  The bottom tier houses the original cover that is kept in its original form with a piece of Ethafoam cut to the size of the original textblock and covered in bookcloth.

Two-tiered box

Linnaeus developed the system of binomial nomenclature that serves as an international scientific language for plant and animal species.  His work is crucial to researchers throughout the National Museum of Natural History, and SIL’s collections include all but a few of the 13 editions, each bigger than the last, published over the course of the 18^th century.  Thanks to the generous donor, researchers can now access this valuable resource once again.  See our Adopt-a-book website for the opportunity to support our acquisition of the scarce 4^th (1744) and 7^th (1748) editions.

—Katie Wagner