Archival conservation

Conserving the Berwick Borough Archives (Twixt Thistle and Rose)

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Scheduling repairs

As part of the Twixt Thistle and Rose Project we must identify and schedule for conservation any items that require physical repairs. This could mean simple patching repairs to a paper document, relaxing and flattening parchment deeds or taking apart and restoring a full volume.

H1/4 Bridge Account Book 1622-1635 – broken binding and paper very weak
Part of the binding of the same volume – a recycled latin manuscript – a technique commonly used by bookbinders
The parchment cover of the same volume of Bridge Accounts is stiff, holed and badly damaged

The primary purpose is to ensure that the record can be read without further deterioration but it is also important to retain as far as possible the original character of the document or volume.

Visiting the conservation workshop

Last Monday, Linda and I visited the company that have carried out conservation work for the Berwick Record Office for about 30 years – Riley, Dunn and Wilson. This firm has been in the business of printing, book restoration and bookbinding since 1909 – they were originally based in Edinburgh.

Before we travelled, we photographed the items in their current state and created a repair schedule that summarized the individual treatment each item required.

The marbling on the cover of this volume (H 2/42 Guild Annual Accounts 1761-1762) is in a very poor state but must be retained as there is information written on the reverse. A new cover will be made.

We took a few volumes and a bundle of large parchment deeds with us so that an estimate of costs could be made before commissioning the work. We discussed the repair appropriate for each item, whether there were loose items inside a volume (if so, how they should be treated), what kind of bindings should be provided and whether protective boxes should also be supplied.

A bundle of parchment deeds. The parchment has become very hard making it difficult to read the individual documents. The parchment will be relaxed and the documents flattened – retaining the original label that shows they are part of a series.

We were also able to see the bookbinders and paper repairers at work – both fascinating, almost entirely manual, occupations. The firm also carries out heritage digitization – an alternative means of providing access when physical repair is impossible or there is expected to be very heavy use use of the original, repaired or not.

Riley, Dunn and Wilson – testing the acidity of paper

Before…

Some time ago the first Guild Enrolment Book was repaired and this photo shows what it was like before the conservation work started – badly eaten away and unfit for public use.

B 6/1 The First Guild Book of Enrolment 1570-1636 before repair

…and after …


B 6/1 The First Guild Book of Enrolment 1570-1636 after repair


In-house conservation

Basic conservation work is also undertaken by the Archives team. For example, cleaning dust and dirt from paper and parchment, boxing and wrapping documents or volumes and monitoring the strong room constantly for changes in humidity or the presence of pests. Project volunteers can be involved in cleaning or re-boxing some of the records. Please email us if you are interested (ttar@northumberland.gov.uk) or attend the sessions we will be holding at the Archives on the 23rd and 26th March.

Conservation Work on the Early Patient Files

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The earlier patient notes from Stannington Sanatorium were bound together in what were known as ‘Discharge Books’.  We had 15 of these large volumes and took the decision to have them unbound and to keep them stored as individual sets of notes instead.  They still remain in their original order but thanks to the work of the conservators at Durham Record Office are now much more accessible and neatly stored in their own custom-made boxes.  The conservators have very kindly given us a step-by-step account of the work they carried out on these records:

 

During their time at the sanatorium each patient had annotated medical notes charting their progress.  These came in a standard format; a bifolio (a sheet of paper folded in half to make two leaves), often with additional sheets or photographs attached. After the patients had been discharged these bifolios were bound together into volumes.    Whilst keeping the notes safe, the bindings were very tight, meaning it was difficult to read text written in the fold or ‘gutter’.  Furthermore, small pieces of paper that were adhered to the notes were often trapped within the gutter, unable to be lifted and thus obscuring text beneath them. (Figure 01)

03 'Trapped' paper obscurring text
Figure 01 – ‘Trapped’ paper obscuring text

 

Whilst normally all care is taken to preserve bindings as part of an object’s historical context, the decision was made that the information that was inaccessible due to the binding structure was more important than the bindings themselves.  As such, I and two Conservators at Durham County Record Office have been dis-binding the volumes.

 

Dis-binding begins with removing the boards and mechanically stripping as much leather from the spine as possible.  The leather was adhered directly to the text-block paper with a thick animal glue.  To remove the glue a poultice of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose was applied which gradually softens the animal glue without wetting the paper beneath.  When the glue was sufficiently softened we gently scraped it away, exposing the sewing and paper beneath.  (Figure 02)

05 Application of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose
Figure 02 – Application of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose

 

We were then able to cut the sewing and separate one bifolio at a time from the rest of the text-block.  In doing so we were able to see the stab sewing the bookbinders had used, which was the reason it was impossible to open the book properly to access the text in the gutter.  When each bifolio was detached, we removed any remaining animal glue from the fold. (Figures 03 & 04)                                                                                    

06 Stab sewing
Figure 03 – Stab sewing

07 Removal of glue from fold
Figure 04 – Removal of glue from fold

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                  

Patients who had spent many years in the sanatorium had additional sheets added to their notes.  These were attached to their bifolios with a linen tape.  Over time the adhesive of the tape has failed, becoming dry and grainy.  Whilst this meant the tape carrier was very easy to remove, the adhesive remained on the paper and had to be manually scraped off each sheet. (Figures 05-07) 

Figure 5
Figure 05 – ‘Before’ linen tape

Figure 6
Figure 06 – Removal of adhesive from tape

Figure 7
Figure 07 – ‘After’ tape removal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst most of the paper is still in very good condition, the bifolios with many additional sheets were found to have split in the binding process as the paper could not stretch over the bulk of the inserts.  Furthermore, the inserts often protruded further than the rest of the text-block and so had suffered damage along the edges.  Some damaged bifolios had been ‘repaired’ with tape or paper, and often these repairs were failing.  When collections are being digitised, it means the originals will be rarely accessed.  As such conservators carry out minimal intervention, or repairs for ‘once-only’ handling.  This means we only repair a tear or damage if text is obscured or if we think a tear might be caught and worsened in the digitisation process.  We carried out these repairs with a thin but strong Japanese paper and wheat starch paste. (Figures 08 & 09)

12 'After' paper repair
Figure 09 – ‘After’ paper repair

 

11 'Before' repair - with an old repair piece
Figure 08 – ‘Before’ repair – with an old repair piece

 

 

 There were also a number of photographs within the medical notes, adhered with a similar linen tape.  The adhesive was gently removed to prevent scratching the emulsion layer.  Four-flap folders were made out of SilverSafe paper; an unbuffered paper specifically for storing photographs to prevent acidic decay and abrasion. (Figures 10-12)

15 Removal of tape I
Figure 10 – Removal of tape I

16 Removal of tape II
Figure 11 – Removal of tape II

17 'After' page with photographs
Figure 12 – ‘After’ page with photographs

  

 

 

 

 

Bespoke clamshell boxes were made from acid-free archival card to house each volume, which are then ready to be digitised. (Figure 13)

19 Archival clamshell box
Figure 13 – Archival clamshell box

 

Jenny Halling Barnard, Lisa Handke, and Zoe Ross – Conservators at Durham County Record Office