Rare Book Conservation

George Mason University Libraries’ Special Collections & Archives (SC&A) was the proud recipient in December 2012 of an NEH Preservation Assistance grant. Grant activities included working with a preservation consultant to assess preservation of collections here, creating a preservation plan, and prioritizing preservation actions. We identified one important priority as working with a conservator to repair damaged rare books. Conservation for rare books in SC&A now occurs routinely to make damaged books usable again. In the case of the 1820 Richmond imprint of the Proceedings and Debates of the Virginia State Convention of 1829-1830, our copy had a mutilated spine and the entire cover was separated from the text block as you see in the “before” photographs below. Conservation, using reversible materials and professional techniques, has resulted in a new spine created from compatibly colored and very strong Japanese paper. Meanwhile, the torn joints have been repaired, also using Japanese paper colored to match the beautiful original marbled end sheets.

Image of “Proceedings and Debates of the Virginia State Convention of 1829-1830” before conservation.

Image of “Proceedings and Debates of the Virginia State Convention of 1829-1830” after conservation.

Another, more modern book, the 1925 publication, The Building of Satellite Towns, had torn hinges. The conservator was able to save part of the original spine this time by adhering it to the spine replacement. The torn joints were repaired by replacing the old end sheets with compatibly colored, but new, acid-free end sheets. Note that the conservator saved the book seller’s stamp in the lower right hand corner of the pastedown. Working with conservators to repair books in Special Collections & Archives is part of our role as good stewards of these valuable research collections.