by Oa Sjoblom 

As an Art Conservation graduate student at SUNY Buffalo State, I spent two years in Buffalo studying conservation theory, treatment, and ethics; learning about the materials and production of paintings, objects, art on paper, photographs, and books; and classes in conservation science and imaging. The last year of graduate training is a year-long internship at a conservation lab to deepen our knowledge of advanced conservation treatments. I was lucky enough to be able to spend my year-long internship at the Weissman Preservation Center (WPC), part of Preservation Services for Harvard Library. 

Working on a book once back in the lab with COVID-19 protocols in place.

 As a graduate intern, I worked closely with Weissman staff to learn about the all that goes into serving a large research library. This included monthly meetings with curators to review and select items for conservation, meetings with curators and Imaging Services staff to assess items slated from digitization, assisting with exhibition preparation, and outreach to the Harvard community such as Careful Handling and bookbinding workshops. I also saw the collaboration between WPC and Harvard students and staff, with regular tours and classes in the lab. One of the reasons I love book conservation is the opportunity to work closely with curators and collections to make information available for researchers. At WPC, I saw the role preservation and conservation plays in the function of the Library, and how working with library staff and students adds to the work done at WPC. This year taught me so much about working in a library setting. 

  

I was able to participate in various library activities, such as conservation reviews at Yenching Library (L), exhibition installation at the Law School Library, (C) and assisting with a Careful Handling workshop for graduate students (R).

For my internship, I had hoped to be exposed to an array of formats, structures, and treatments, and this was definitely achieved. Even in my shortened time in the lab due to COVID-19 shutdowns, I was able to treat two 18th century Atlases, a set of 19th century Japanese bindings, 19th century Chinese botanical drawings, an 18th century Italian tacketed stationary binding, twenty early English parchment deeds, and a wooden board Incunable. As a book conservator, I am lucky to get to work on a range of materials, such as paper, parchment, and wood, and the projects I worked on this year highlight this. 

With my supervisor, Rare Book Conservator Katherine Beaty, we treated a set of ten Japanese bindings from 1836-1841 from the Yenching Library. The books were heavily damaged by mold, so the first step, after initial photo-documentation, was mold remediation using a HEPA vacuum in a fume hood wearing proper PPE. This step, along with gentle dry cleaning with cosmetic sponges, removes loose mold spores and often is enough to allow the book to be carefully handled. For this treatment, a 1% solution of Klucel G in ethanol was also applied to the most severe areas of mold damage to resize the paper, weakened by mold. Klucel G is a cellulose ether adhesive that has been tested and has desirable ageing characteristics for conservation. In dilute concentrations, it can be used to add strength to weakened paper. Useful for this treatment, cellulose ethers are not a food source for mold, unlike starches, another common adhesive used in conservation. The textblock of this style of binding is made up of sheets folded in half, with the folded edge on the fore-edge, and the open side oversewn at the spine. This added an interesting challenge to mold remediation; some books needed to be disbound to fully treat because there was significant mold between the folds of a page. Further treatment included paper repair with solvent set tissue and rebinding disbound volumes.  

To prepare, I worked with many members of Preservation Services to learn more about Japanese binding structures. I assisted Kate Rich and Katherine Gray with a Japanese binding class for students, Katherine Beaty shared previous treatment experience with East Asian bindings, and Bill Hanscom shared his incredible research on Korean, Chinese, and Japanese bindings. An important component of book conservation is a strong understanding of different book structures, which allows conservators to recognize and preserve key elements unique to different structures and cultures. 

 

Before (L) and after (R) treatment. 

  

Before treatment, during mold remediation, and after paper repair. 

I also had the chance to learn more about parchment and conservation with the treatment of a box of twenty deeds from the Law Library. The deeds are on parchment with wax seals, and the deeds I treated ranged in date from 1280 to 1599. I learned about the structure, production, and condition issues for deeds. Some deeds were gently humidified and flattened to reduce creases that would prevent legibility in the digitized image. This is an example of balancing the required use of an object while maintaining evidence of its production and history. Treatment also involved parchment repair with goldbeater's skin (the outer membrane from animal intestines) and fish gelatin (food/pharmaceutical grade, high molecular weight). Both these materials create strong and sympathetic repairs with parchment. Interestingly, one of the reasons fish gelatin is used is because it will be easily identifiable as a different protein source than the parchment, which is most often made from mammals. Peptide mass fingerprinting can be used to identify the protein source of parchment, and is an important for future research. Fish gelatin is also liquid at room temperature, unlike bovine gelatin, which makes it easier to work with. 

 

  

Before treatment, after treatment, during treatment repairing tears with goldbeaters skin, making a felt cozy for the wax seals.

One of the types of treatment I had requested was a wooden board binding; I had the opportunity to work on the Lectura super V libris Decretalium by Niccolò, de' Tudeschi, from the Harvard Law School Library. The book dates to 1487-88 and was printed by Joanne de Amerbach in Basel, Switzerland, and the binding appears to be contemporary to the text. The book is sewn on split alum tawed skin supports, with wooden boards, and fully covered in leather with blind tooling  

After reviewing literature on wood repair for both books and objects, I worked with Special Collections Conservator Kelli Piotrowski to determine treatment steps. Many considerations must go into treating wooden boards, as wood is a hygroscopic material and shrinks and expands with changes in relative humidity. The first step was stabilizing the wood with bovine gelatin, selected for its strength, ability to flow into crevices, and common use for book treatments. Insect holes were filled with twists of Japanese tissue, used to add bulk without adhesive. Smaller losses were filled and built out with paper pulp mixed with Klucel G in ethanol, which was used as a non-aqueous adhesive that would not shrink on drying, with the ethanol evaporating quickly. The larger loss at the corner was filled with thin layers of balsa wood adhered with gelatin with the grain running alternating directions. A contour gauge was used to measure the irregular edges of the loss. Finally, the fills were shaped, and then covered with dyed leather. These fills allow the board to be safely handled when the book is used, but are all weaker than the original wood, which means they are more likely to fail than causing the board to break more. 

  

    

Repairing insect damage to the wooden board using a mitter jog to measure the loss; the damaged wood stabilized with gelatin; balsa wood fill; the fill covered with leather.

While working remotely, I was able to work closely with many of the WPC conservators on different projects. I helped to update forms for exhibit and loans, and protocols for documentation. This was an invaluable experience and gave me the chance to discuss ideas with experienced conservators and learn from them. Preservation Services staff presented material to me on topics such as photograph conservation, pest management, wood identification, and book structures. 

I also participated in Endbands in Isolation, a group endeavor for Preservation Services staff where we compiled information on endbands and shared tips and tricks. I learned a lot of new endband styles, a useful skill that I have never had the time to explore before. Working on endbands was a great way to keep up my hand skills while working from home.  

 

Endbands I made from home. 

Even with all the work-from-home projects, getting back into the lab the first week of August was very exciting! There were three of us, well distanced as you can see here. After adjusting to masks and handling procedures, it was wonderful to get back to treatment. It was an unusual internship year, but I am so thankful for such wonderful treatment opportunities, and the chance to learn from incredible conservators. 

 

Back in the lab discussing treatment with Katherine Beaty (R).