Militiaman's Pocket Companion...preserving it - printed 1822

[Allison]

Hello,

 

I posted previously on the little book above that I have. It is in very dry condition, and though I want to open it and look more at the pages, it starts to crumble a little on the edges as it is so dry. This is a second edition of the Militiaman's Pocket Companion.

 

Presently I have it in a plastic bag, with a top that closes, but I am wondering what I can do to at least slow the progression of the dryness. Or whether I should do that at all. Also, if I do look at it, should I use gloves? Should I use tweezers to turn the pages? It gets very cold in the part of the country that I am in, so there is heating in my house which is, of course, drying.

 

Being a 'pocket companion' it only measures 7"x4" and is just over half an inch thick.

 

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

A

[ClaptonIsGod]

I don't know much about this, but I will definitely say use gloves when handling it. Remember, it is 187 years old. You might want to even consider contacting the Smithsonian if they don't have one, I am sure they would love to have it.

[gwb123]

For those interested, here is a link to the previous post on this item.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...c=57209&hl=

 

I am not sure where you live, but I would take the item to a large library or historic society who has a preservation specialist. There are techniques for working with old books and documents, but you probably need to have it examined in person by someone who knows what they are doing. I know there are some simple hydration processes available for working with dried paper.

 

If they could open up and preserve the Dead Sea Scrolls, I would guess we can get you book opened!

[Bluehawk]

I've handled books of the condition you describe, many times, and seen them handled and stored many more times than that - so, I assume we are discussing what to do in lieu of conserving/restoring.

 

Purists insist using gloves, and I would agree IF there was to be a lot of handling of the book.

 

There is a risk in using gloves - the risk of doing damage by unintentional catching/tearing of old paper on the cloth.

 

I wouldn't touch it with gloves on at all unless I'd been changing the oil in my Harley or making Christmas butter cookies or changing the baby, and would touch it as little as possible in general.

 

To preserve (excellent word) I would interleave each and every page with neutral pH tissue cut to the size of the page if doing so would not unduly stress the end binding.

 

If interleaving between every page would endanger the end binding, then I would try interleaving every other page.

 

There are two types of such tissue. One looks sort of like greenish wax paper, and the other looks sort of like wrapping paper tissue. Either one would work fine, the thinner the better. The papers come in many sizes, which can be trimmed.

 

The objective would be to stabilize the pages, and then to get the book in a Solander or Hollinger box built to fit it closely, and then to store it out of the light away from any moisture or heat or critters. It may be displayed, hopefully behind UV-filtered plexi or glass glazing.

 

Baggie storage is okay, as a temporary measure, but not long term. It needs to breathe a little.

 

As to the relative humidity necessary to keep it from deteriorating further, the chances may be good that your own home is about right as it is - unless you like the ambient atmosphere VERY dry or VERY moist, or if should you like the temperature and/or humidity to change frequently - all of which are not good for artifact storage.

 

Extremes of temperature and moisture, and frequent changes between the two, are the primary enemies of paper artifacts. Most delicate things can survive very nicely IF those 2 matters are well managed, even if not ideally.

 

Here is a good link for obtaining good archival storage supplies of all kinds:

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...showtopic=26375

[Allison]

I've handled books of the condition you describe, many times, and seen them handled and stored many more times than that - so, I assume we are discussing what to do in lieu of conserving/restoring.

 

Purists insist using gloves, and I would agree IF there was to be a lot of handling of the book.

 

There is a risk in using gloves - the risk of doing damage by unintentional catching/tearing of old paper on the cloth.

 

I wouldn't touch it with gloves on at all unless I'd been changing the oil in my Harley or making Christmas butter cookies or changing the baby, and would touch it as little as possible in general.

 

To preserve (excellent word) I would interleave each and every page with neutral pH tissue cut to the size of the page if doing so would not unduly stress the end binding.

 

If interleaving between every page would endanger the end binding, then I would try interleaving every other page.

 

There are two types of such tissue. One looks sort of like greenish wax paper, and the other looks sort of like wrapping paper tissue. Either one would work fine, the thinner the better. The papers come in many sizes, which can be trimmed.

 

The objective would be to stabilize the pages, and then to get the book in a Solander or Hollinger box built to fit it closely, and then to store it out of the light away from any moisture or heat or critters. It may be displayed, hopefully behind UV-filtered plexi or glass glazing.

 

Baggie storage is okay, as a temporary measure, but not long term. It needs to breathe a little.

 

As to the relative humidity necessary to keep it from deteriorating further, the chances may be good that your own home is about right as it is - unless you like the ambient atmosphere VERY dry or VERY moist, or if should you like the temperature and/or humidity to change frequently - all of which are not good for artifact storage.

 

Extremes of temperature and moisture, and frequent changes between the two, are the primary enemies of paper artifacts. Most delicate things can survive very nicely IF those 2 matters are well managed, even if not ideally.

 

Here is a good link for obtaining good archival storage supplies of all kinds:

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...showtopic=26375

 

Thanks very much for the information. I have to say that the book is so fragile that I have hesitated to touch it, especially as the spine (what is left of what could be called a spine) looks as though it was sewn together, with very fine and very old looking thread. Almost similar to simple embroidery, or maybe the work of a soldier many years ago as a repair.

 

About the book itself I still know nothing, and as it seems connected to New York I have thought of contacting the militia musuem in New Jersey to see what they can tell me.

 

It is battered so must have gone through some interesting journeys before my hands touched it. It also contains a folded receipt for groceries dated 1897 and a small poem that is like an advertisement, for sardines I think!

 

It brings pause to touch a book that has probably had an "interesting" life betweeen the time it was printed in 1822 and the dawn of the 20th century. I want to give it the respect I feel it ddeserves.

[SGM (ret.)]

As you're adding that acid-free tissue between the pages, scan the booklet from cover to cover. Then, you can print a duplicate and use that to reference the information - thereby preserving the original by avoiding any more handling than necessary. Set the scanner on its highest resolution so that you have as high a quality scan as possible. The file size might be pretty big, but you can always save it to a removable media (CD maybe), and reduce the file size for printing or creating an Adobe PDF document.

 

If you don't have a scaner (and they're really pretty cheap - scaner / copier / fax all-in-one machines can be bought for less than $150) maybe the local public library has one that you can use, or possibly even a local highschool history teacher would be interested enough to get you in to the school's computer lab. Might make an interesting "history lab" for his students.

 

Preserving the document is very important, but don't forget that the information contained in it is valuable too, maybe even more so than the physical doc itself.

[Allison]

As you're adding that acid-free tissue between the pages, scan the booklet from cover to cover. Then, you can print a duplicate and use that to reference the information - thereby preserving the original by avoiding any more handling than necessary. Set the scanner on its highest resolution so that you have as high a quality scan as possible. The file size might be pretty big, but you can always save it to a removable media (CD maybe), and reduce the file size for printing or creating an Adobe PDF document.

 

If you don't have a scaner (and they're really pretty cheap - scaner / copier / fax all-in-one machines can be bought for less than $150) maybe the local public library has one that you can use, or possibly even a local highschool history teacher would be interested enough to get you in to the school's computer lab. Might make an interesting "history lab" for his students.

 

Preserving the document is very important, but don't forget that the information contained in it is valuable too, maybe even more so than the physical doc itself.

 

My two copies are pics taken with a Canon which goes in very close on macro.

 

I do have a scanner but have been fearful of scanning. I have scanned a lot of magazines, but this is a different kettle of fish.

 

If I scan the highest dpi I have is 1200. I am not a techie so tend to get a little confused between dpi and resolution.

[ron_brock]

I have also used photos to preserve pages of a book. Keep in mind to scan, you have to have the book nearly flat (hard on the binding). There is a chance you could find a copy of this book already scanned and preserved online, then you woud not have to worry about reading yours and simply preserving it.

 

- Ron

[Bob Hudson]

My two copies are pics taken with a Canon which goes in very close on macro.

 

I do have a scanner but have been fearful of scanning. I have scanned a lot of magazines, but this is a different kettle of fish.

 

If I scan the highest dpi I have is 1200. I am not a techie so tend to get a little confused between dpi and resolution.

 

For something like this you would use the camera in macro (closeup) mode: using a typical scanner would break the back.

 

Scanning a 3x5 inch page at 1200 dpi (dots per inch - for practical purposes the same as "pixels per inch") would let you print out a 12x20 inch document at 300 dpi, which is high resolution (even stuff printed at 150 dpi looks great), but again, a typical flatbed scanner would not be a good choice for this type of thing because they really require the pages to be pressed flat against the glass in order for everything to be in focus (there are a few scanners that have a broader "depth of field" but that is not common).

 

If you use a camera, you can put something white in front of the flash to diffuse the light for closeup photos. I use a piece of white foam about 3/8th of in inch thick and attach it with velcro.