Collection Care blog

In September 2022, I began a yearlong internship at The British Library in the conservation department. Prior to this I studied general conservation at Lincoln University, and whilst I enjoyed learning about all types of materials, once I started treating paper objects I knew that I had found my passion, and hopefully my future career.

My studies took place during the Covid-19 lockdowns, so my access to hands on conservation was limited. Entry-level conservation jobs often require a minimum of two years practical experience post training, so finding this internship felt something like a blessing. During my yearlong internship, I have been learning from expert preventive conservators, object, textile, book and paper conservators in a fully equipped conservation studio. This blog post will give an overview of my time spent during the first six months of my internship, beginning with the Exhibitions and Loans team, and then on the long-term bids team.

Img. 1: The BLCC purpose built main studio

Exhibitions and Loans 

The Exhibition and Loans (E&L) team within conservation deal with the treatment and condition checking of objects that have been requested for upcoming exhibitions, either internally at the BL or externally at other lending institutions, including touring exhibitions.

Condition checking and documentation is crucial to the culture of institutions loaning each other objects as record of the exact nature and degree of all damage is important to show that an object has not been further damaged during transit or display. I started on the Exhibitions and Loans team during the install of the Alexander Exhibition, where I was able to watch loan items from other institutions arrive, and to see how different conservators at a variety of institutions described and highlighted different types of damage. I also had the opportunity to assess and record the condition of individual items going out on loan and an entire touring exhibition on its return to the Library. This allowed me to familiarise myself with the specialist vocabulary used in book conservation, the various book structures, and the common types of damage.

I have learnt that putting together an exhibition is a truly collaborative process. During the install many different departments work together to ensure that the final exhibition is educational, contains the most relevant and beautiful objects, is enjoyable for visitors but above all that the objects remain safe, stable and undamaged. The E&L team play a massive role in this: they decide which items are in good enough condition to be displayed, undertake any necessary conservation treatments and decide how best to display objects.

I also worked on the Chinese and British exhibition; I mounted many flat items for display, learning various techniques that ensure each object is displayed at its best whilst being appropriately supported.

Img. 2: ink on paper map mounted with V-hinge technique so the hinges aren’t visible

Img. 3: ink on paper flat work mounted using Melinex corners and sides for additional support

In addition to mounting objects for internal exhibitions I also treated items for internal and external exhibitions, focusing on damage that could increase whilst in transit or on display or aesthetic damage to the display opening. The following are examples of items I have treated for exhibitions and loans.

Img. 4: Volume 10880.d.27 before treatment

Img. 5: Volume 10880.d.27 after treatment, including binding repair, leather consolidation and covering board corners

Img. 6: Volume 1258.k.5 pre-treatment

Img. 7: Volume 1258.k.5 post-treatment: consolidating leather and covering material, repairing delaminating board corners

Long-term bids

In the long-term bids team I have been lucky enough to have three different mentors with varied backgrounds leading to their slightly different areas of knowledge and expertise. This has been an amazing way of learning as I get to see a wider range of treatments and processes and different ways of approaching similar problems. I have learnt that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to conservation, each book is unique and various materials both deteriorate and respond to repairs differently. I explored which approach suited me best and chose the best method and materials for the treatment of every object. I have been able to learn and develop a wide variety of skills this way: tear repairs on flat works, books and scrolls; many applications for different gels; toning tissue; paring, toning  and consolidating leather; repairing board corners; binding repairs; sewing sections of a text block; sewing endbands; removing spine linings and more.  However, for the purpose of this blog I will detail the treatment of 118.e.5, and how I was able to develop the skills required for each treatment step.

Img. 8: Volume 118.e.5 pre-treatment

The tail endband had become partially detached and the endband and spine were dirty. I began with surface cleaning to improve the appearance and to ensure repair materials would adhere sufficiently.

I attended a gels course run by three British Library conservators where I learnt how to make a variety of gels at different concentrations and experiment with their suggested applications.

Img. 9: The different gels tested during the gels course

Img. 10: experimenting with a variety of gels to reduce different types of stains

Img. 11: Endband during cleaning with Konjac & Xantham

Img. 12: Endband and exposed spine after cleaning

I selected Konjac and Xantham gel to clean the spine and endband by applying it as a poultice, leaving for a few minutes and then removing the poultice, which was very effective. The endband was now ready to be reattached!

I learnt to sew endbands whilst making a sewing model, which furthered my understanding of the structure and purpose of the endband.

Img. 13: Sewing model endband

I learnt to reattach endbands by observing my mentor completing an endband repair to a volume where the head and tail endbands were detaching. This enabled me to take photos and make detailed notes before repairing the other endband, giving me enough confidence to carry out similar treatments more independently in the future.

Img. 14: endband fixed into original position and endband markers mark each

I fixed the endband into its correct position using a piece of Japanese tissue adhered with wheat starch paste before marking the centre of each section I planned to sew through. After the first stitch, I tied a knot on the outer side of the spine to secure the thread.

Img. 15: endband sewn back into original position

I then sewed underneath the endband core, back over the top of the endband and then back through the textblock, with a linen thread that closely matched the original white thread.

Img 16: The repair stitches

Now secured, the next step was to reform the head cap using archival calf leather.

I had no experience working with leather prior to my internship, but have quickly learnt that each leather is different and that paring leather takes a considerable amount of strength! My first attempts at paring leather were thankfully on strips of off-cut leather as they were not pretty, though I’m assured it’s a skill that requires much practice to perfect.

Img 17 : The spine edge and head edge of volume 118.e.5 after treatment

After paring and consolidating the leather, I adhered it to the spine using wheat starch paste.

I loved working on this book, having confidence in my ability to complete each step made me feel like a real, fully-fledged book conservator, and I was really happy with the outcome of the treatment. I am learning more and more by the day and whilst I will be sad to leave the long term bids team, I am excited to join the preventive team before returning to the studio to focus on binding structures. If you’ve found this an interesting read, I will be writing another post detailing my time on future teams so watch this space !

In preparation for the Animals: Art, Science and Sound exhibition, Conservation assessed the suitability for display of over 150 BL collection items, of which just over 120 items actually made it into the exhibition. Seventy of these items came into the conservation studio for treatment prior to being displayed. The kind of treatment for each item varied greatly. Some volumes needed intensive treatments because the covers had become completely detached, and others just needed some minor care, such as tidying board edges that had become split and frayed. Some of the paper items needed tear repairs or flattening because they had been stored rolled or folded and many of them needed window mounting so they could be framed or displayed vertically.

The conservation work for all the items was shared between many conservators in the studio. The work started in January, giving team members enough time to complete their treatments prior to the install of the exhibition in March. Conservation play an integral part of the exhibition process and without the support we provide, many of these wonderful items would not make it into the show.

Below, three conservators discuss a few items that came through the studio for treatment ahead of the exhibition.

Amy

I worked on several volumes for Animals.  My favourite was Or.917, which contains very detailed paintings of whales. . My attention was immediately caught by two in particular – as well as being beautifully painted they both have rather evocative facial expressions!

Painting of a killer whale

Painting of a whale with barnacles

The most badly-damaged book was an early nineteenth-century volume entitled Fishes of the Ganges (Mss Eur E72). When the book came to the conservation studio the paintings themselves were in good condition, but 200 years of usage had taken their toll on the volume’s binding. The green leather of the spine was badly abraded and several pieces of it were missing. This posed a structural risk to the book, as it made it more likely that the boards would become detached at some point in the future. The red-brown paper which covered both boards was also not in a good state, with the pigment faded and rubbed away and pieces missing at the corners and edges of the boards.

Mss Eur E72 before treatment

As conservators our aim is always to retain as much original material as possible when carrying out treatment. My repairs to the marbled paper were very minimal. Using acrylic paints I toned a piece of Japanese handmade paper to a similar colour to that of the original, which I then used to fill in the gaps on the corners and edges of the boards. The damaged leather required a more interventive approach. After careful consideration I concluded that it was not possible to both keep the original leather and reinforce the binding structure. I therefore replaced the old leather with new green goatskin, but retained the old pieces so that readers can still access these remnants of the original binding. An additional result of this treatment will be that when Fishes of the Ganges returns from exhibition it will be robust enough to be consulted by readers and researchers without (hopefully) sustaining further damage.

Mss Eur E72 after treatment

Veronica

The animal protagonist of a volume I treated for this exhibition is the horse. ‘The Anatomy of the Horse’, 1766, a printed book by the British painter George Stubbs, includes exquisite etchings engraved by Stubbs itself, which are anatomically accurate and elegant. The binding is a purple quarter leather binding with purple covering cloth on the sides of the boards and parchment reinforcement on the corners beneath the covering material. The leather spine is gold tooled with the author’s name, title and place and date of publication. The numerous plates in the text block were printed on thick laid paper.

Tab IV. Exhibition opening page.

The binding was in poor state of condition, with both boards detached, delaminated and with missing areas, and the cloth and parchment covering materials on the corners considerably abraded. The leather was split along the spine edges and was heavily worn and coming unattached on the spine, with the grain layer flaking heavily, and some missing areas at head and tail on the endcaps, along the bands and along the edges. The gold tooling on the spine was partially missing.

Left leather join split.

Highly degraded leather spine.

The conservation treatment started with the consolidation of the board corners, by reconstructing the missing areas with layers of Japanese paper adhered with a reversible adhesive. Next, we stabilised the parchment board corners with Japanese paper. The boards protected the text block again!

Once the treatment of the boards was completed, we proceeded with the removal of the old spine lining which was acidic and inflexible and caused the volume to not open well. For the lining removal, we used a poultice, locally applied to the spine to soften the lining materials and adhesives used in the past. The new spine lining, made of Japanese paper and aero-cotton, was strong and flexible and has the function to suitably support the text block spine during opening.

For the treatment of the highly degraded leather spine, together with the exhibition and loans manager and the departmental curator, we carefully evaluated the most suitable option.  Considering that the leather spine’s original state was already been lost and had no historic significance, we decided to apply a new leather spine on the book, gold tooled in the design of the original, and to keep the original pieces, consolidated, in a polyester pocket, secured into the box. With this solution, the volume could be safely displayed and handled, while as much as possible of its physical integrity was retained, with the original spine pieces available for research.

The leather reback on the spine was carried out with a goatskin leather that matched the colour and grain of the original one and was worked to the desired thickness. The treated book was finally housed in a phase box.

Left board after treatment.

The original consolidated leather spine is attached by means of Western handmade paper strips to a Melinex pocket sealed on all sides and to the box where the volume is housed.

New leather spine with gold tooling.

Storm

Historia Aethiopica is a beautiful parchment bound volume I helped treat for display in the Animals: Art, Science and Sound exhibition. This volume included three foldout folios that protruded from the text block even when folded in resulting in heavy creases and weakened paper that had led to tears and areas of loss. I surfaced cleaned the display pages and other pages I treated which displayed surface dirt, to prevent moisture from any materials used in the treatment from causing the dirt to further bond to the surface and to improve the overall appearance of the object.

Verso of opening page during tear repair treatment

I repaired all tears and areas of loss on the display page, and other fold out pages, using toned Japanese tissue so the repairs were subtle and did not draw attention, and wheat starch adhesive, a reversible water-soluble adhesive.

The display page pre-treatment

The display page post-treatment

I used a heated spatula, with a barrier layer to protect the paper, to reduce some of the heavier creases and to flatten the corners as they were heavily curled. I also used the heated spatula in combination with some wheat starch adhesive to strengthen the edges of the page as they were extremely thin and weak, therefore were at a high risk of further deterioration.

Using a heated spatula to flatten a page’s corner

There was also damage to the binding, a tear at the top edge between the left board and the spine, which would likely have deteriorated further during exhibition, as it would be displayed open causing more stress to this area. I repaired this by inserting a piece of unbleached shirlan cotton adhered with a mixture of EVA and wheat starch adhesive to hold the board and spine together to reduce the risk of it tearing further whilst on display or during future handling.

The binding repair during treatment

Damage to binding

Binding repair

Both the head-edge endband and the tail-edge endband had also become almost completely detached from the text block, thus needed to be repaired. As I was unfamiliar with this type of treatment I closely observed as my mentor, Veronica Zoppi, undertook the treatment to the head-endband. This was incredibly educational as I was able to take photos and short videos of each treatment step whilst asking questions, which allowed me to make detailed notes complete with diagrams for future use and to treat the tail-edge endband.

First, I cleaned the endband and spine edge of the textblock using Konjac and Xantham gel, to improve the appearance of the endband but also so the repair materials would adhere properly.

Endband with gel on during cleaning

The endband was then fixed in the right position using a strip of Japanese tissue adhered to the bottom edge of the endband and to the spine of the Textblock, this was then left to dry shut.

Japanese tissue holding endband in position drying

To reattach the endband, I sewed through the text block, around the endband core, passing again through the centre of some sections in the text block, marked by paper markers. Usually when re-attaching endbands a conservator would have access to the spine of the text-block, as the spine piece would have been partially or completely detached. As this was not the case, to allow access to the spine, the volume was held open with weights, and then a curved needle was used to reattach the endband using linen threads that closely matched the original endband colours.

Section markers

The endband pre-treatment

The endband post-treatment

Conclusion

We hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into preparing items for display. All items are now on view in the exhibition. Book your tickets here.

We note with great sadness the death of Bernard Middleton, a towering figure in UK bookbinding with close links to the Library. 

Bernard spent much of his life working with British Library collection items at the Library’s bindery, then known as the British Museum Bindery, following his apprenticeship there.

To see some of his bindings and to hear him talk about his training please see a blog we posted in 2014 to celebrate his 90th birthday:

https://blogs.bl.uk/collectioncare/2014/10/bookbinder-bernard-middleton-celebrates-90th-birthday.html

Our thoughts and best wishes are with his family and friends.

‘Cats on the Page’ is a free exhibition now open in the front entrance hall of the British Library running until Sunday 17 March 2019.

Have you ever wondered how all the items for an exhibition are prepared?

Once the exhibition concept has been approved and the curators have chosen all the items that they would like to display in the exhibition, conservation becomes involved.

We start by examining each item and checking for the following things:

• Condition: is it in a condition that is stable for display?
• Treatment: does it require any conservation treatment to make it stable for display? If so, how much?
• Display: How is it going to be displayed, does it need any special mounting?
• Vulnerability: Is it particularly sensitive to light or environmental changes?
• Touring: Is it suitable for display at multiple venues?

Any exhibition can have between 100 – 300 items selected for display and are spread over many different departments, so assessing each item can be time consuming.

 

Once everything has been assessed anything that requires treatment is arranged to be delivered to the conservation studio, this will usually be about 4-5 months prior to the install of the exhibition (or longer if needed due to high amounts of treatment required).

All items arriving in the conservation studio are brought up on a ticket which has a special code for the conservation department. Not only this, but everything is also entered into our ‘tracker’ book, which allows everything to be signed in and out of the studio.

The types of treatments that we undertake in preparation for an exhibition can range from simple treatments such tear repairs to the opening page or more in-depth treatments such as board attachments and pigment consolidation. Due to the high number of items that need preparation for exhibition, anything that requires more than 10 hours of treatment will generally be removed from the exhibition list and handed over to the Conservation collection care teams for full treatment.

This copy of ‘Puss in Boots’ is a pop-up book that was just one of the items that required treatment prior to going on display.

Pop-up books are inherently fragile because of the moving parts but this book is also made from very poor quality card that has become very acidic and brittle over the years. It required some minor treatment in preparation for its inclusion into the exhibition.

The Exhibitions team order custom made book supports for each book, specific to the page opening.

The book is strapped to the book cradle, using Melinex® strapping to help it stay open during the exhibition. It is then ready to be installed into the showcase by the Exhibitions install team with the other material.

The variety of different books and artworks have highlighted the love of our furry friends, ‘Cats on the Page’ is open for three months and free to visit, so don’t miss this lovely exhibition!

Alexa McNaught-Reynolds, Conservation Exhibition and Loan Manager

To celebrate #NationalBookLoversDay, I’ve decided to write a follow-up blog to my previous post, A Taste of Training. As discussed in my first blog post, one of the activities I am involved with as a Preventive Conservator here at the British Library is training. In this post, I’d like to share some of the information we deliver when providing book handling training sessions, focusing on various binding styles and the tools you can use to help prevent damage. A great way to show your love for books is to handle them with care!

Risks to books

Books may be vulnerable for a number of reasons. A book might be constructed from materials which are poor quality or the book may have been housed in less-than-ideal storage or environmental conditions. The format of the book itself can also cause damage, so it’s important to know how to handle different types of books and account for each format’s weaknesses.

Book supports and weights

Book supports are a great way to minimise damage when using a book. They restrict the opening angle of a book and provide support while the book is being used. This helps to prevent damage to the spine and boards.  Book supports commonly come in the form of foam wedges, but you can also find other styles, including cradles with cushions and cushions on their own.

Weights are another useful tool when using books. Books are, generally speaking, not made to open flat, which can result in pages that want to spring upwards. Rather than pressing down on the pages and potentially causing damage, it’s better to gently lay a weight on the page. Just take care not to place the weights directly on any areas with text or images—these areas may be fragile and susceptible to damage.

   
From left to right: A book on foam supports, a cradle with a cushion, and a cushion, with snake weights preventing the pages from springing upwards.

Now let’s discuss specific binding styles.

Flexible tight back books

A flexible tight back is a book which has the covering material (often leather) adhered directly to the spine. This means that the covering material flexes as the book is opened and closed. This can cause cracking along the spine, and will worsen as the leather and paper degrade.   

Vertical cracking along the spine of a rigid tight back book (please note that this image, along with all others, shows a sample book and not a collection item; books should not normally be placed on their foredge).

A partially bound flexible tight back with minimal lining between the text block and the leather covering.

When using a flexible tight back book, place the boards on foam wedges. You may also find it beneficial to use a spine support piece--a thin strip of foam placed in the centre to help support the fragile spine, as seen below. 

A flexible tight back book on foam book supports with spine support piece.

Rigid tight back

A rigid tight back book has more material covering the spine, which makes the spine rigid and more robust. This rigid spine causes the book to have a restricted opening, and the pages of the book will spring upward when opened. The rigid spine can also cause a weakness in the joint--the area where the book boards meet the spine--and may lead to the boards detaching.   

Whilst not a rigid tight back, this image does show a book with its boards detached—this type of damage is common with rigid tight back books.

A partially bound rigid tight back showing a more built up spine: book board is present between the text block and leather, highlighted in the white square.

Rigid tight back books do not need a spine support piece. Instead, the focus should be on supporting the boards with wedges and leaving space in the centre for the spine. 

A rigid tight back book on foam book supports; note the pages springing up rather than lying flat.

Case bindings

Now let’s get into a couple of the more common types of bindings, which everyone is likely to have on their bookshelf. A case binding, or hardback book, features a textblock which is adhered to the case (or boards) by pasting a piece of paper to the textblock and the case. Over time, the case can split away from the textblock, causing pages and/or the textblock to come loose, and possibly detach completely. To prevent damage to your hardbacks, we recommend restricting the opening angle so as to not cause too much strain to that single piece of paper holding the textblock to the case.   

Showing the piece of paper adhering the textblock to the case.

The text block has split from the case, causing some pages to detach and the textblock as a whole to be loose.

Perfect bindings

Perfect bindings, or paperback books, are made by glueing the textblock directly to the cover. They are not made to be long-lasting, and as a result, are often made from poor quality materials. As the adhesive fails, pages will detach and come loose. Paperback books are also not very flexible, so they won’t open well. To keep your paperbacks in the best condition possible, restrict the opening angle so you’re not causing a stress point where the adhesive can fail easily.      

 
Left and right: The pages have detached from the cover of this book.

Safe handling

Finally, I’d like to share some general best practice tips to help you safely handle your books:

• Ensure your hands are clean and dry when handling books
• Be aware of long jewellery or loose clothing which can catch
• Lift books instead of sliding or dragging them
• Don’t carry too many books at one time
• Handle your books with care and be sure to take your time

If you’re using our reading rooms and do not see any book supports or weights around, simply ask Reading Room staff and they will provide them for you. The more time you take to ensure you’re using best practice when handling books, the longer your favourite books will survive!

Happy #NationalBookLoversDay!

Nicole Monjeau

By Heather Marshall

Six volumes arrived in the Conservation studio at the British Library. They are all bound in Western style bindings, quarter bound in dark blue leather and marbled paper, and they are very much in the format and style with which you will be familiar when looking at a traditional book.

One of the six volumes, open, showing the restricted opening, detached boards and spine piece.

I discovered that these volumes contain one of the greatest Chinese novels: the Dream of the Red Chamber (in Chinese: Hong lou meng), written by Cao Xueqin in the 18th century. This edition (British Library shelfmark: 15333.a.1) was made during the Qing dynasty, and it is dated 1811. It is a printed item.

The Dream of the Red Chamber is also called ‘The Story of the Stone’ (in Chinese: Shi tou ji) and it is one of China’s greatest classic novels. Written during the Qing dynasty, this work is widely recognised as one of the pinnacles of Chinese fiction. It narrates the story of two branches of a wealthy aristocratic family (the Jia family) and gives us a vivid account of the Chinese culture and society at that time, portraying funerals, rites, cuisine and medicine aspects.

However, it is relatively unknown in the West, despite the fact that the first translation into English was produced in 1812, just one year after the production of this Chinese copy. It is curious that the original item has at some point been rebound in Western style. The size of the novel is remarkable and when bound in Western style it arrived at 23 fascicules in 6 volumes! The current Penguin books edition is longer than War and Peace!

Books and other collection items in libraries often go through several transformations by being put into a number of different bindings in their several hundred year lives. This can vary from complete rebinding from one style to the next or an amalgamation of styles, through different repairs deemed necessary over the years.

Until recent years, when an item from East Asia was ingested in a Western library’s collection, it was usually rebound with Western style technique, including a hard cover with a spine, which usually contained the title in English. It was in fact believed that in this way the items would have been better stored on the shelves and the paper would have been more protected from dust or humidity. The same happened for the British Museum Library’s items from China (now the British Library’s Chinese collection).

The British Library Lead Curator for East Asian Collections, Sara Chiesura, has informed us that more recent and contemporary acquisitions are left with the original binding and put in a custom made box for shelving. This approach goes along with the current conservation trends, which tends to intervene as little as possible on the original items, and to adopt non-invasive techniques to stabilise them.

As a Book Conservator making decisions about the type of repairs needed to a fragile or damaged binding can be very complex and you will always need to consider the evidence which gives the story of the past. Do you keep a book in its current format and make repairs? Sometimes, in fact, even if the Western style binding is not ideal for East Asian items, the binding itself becomes part of the history of the item, and can sometimes reveal information about previous owners or collectors.

Would a new binding be better able to protect the book for the future and honour its history too instead?

The repair work on these Chinese items became therefore a rare case at the British Library. After a discussion with the curators, we decided that the ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ would have been taken out of its current western style bindings and been put into a Chinese style thread bindings, housed in wrap around ”Tao” cases. Using strong, archival materials, the 6 volumes (23 fascicules in their original format) deserved the sympathy of a return to their origins and a non-Western approach was the best option for the original fragile, thin paper and the need for gentle opening and a secure binding.

As with many Chinese books that have been rebound in Western style, the tight hard binding in contrast to the fragile and this Chinese paper often does not work. In this case, the solid animal glue at the spine created a tight opening and did not allow the bindings to open far enough to see all the text. The detached boards and spines caused much damage as well.

One volume after the animal glue was removed from the spine, clearly showing the divisions into fascicules of the original Chinese book and leaving the evidence of the more recent Western style binding.

Working with the item, I immediately noticed some original holes (in the paper text block), which gave me evidence of where the original Chinese thread sewing was. I could therefore reuse these original holes to recreate the sewing for the Chinese binding, tracing back the binding’s original state.

The so-called “Thread Binding” was the usual Chinese binding format in 1811. It is strong and the sewing rarely breaks. Thread bound fascicules in wrap around cases (known as “Tao” cases) would last indefinitely. They allow the flexible pages of each fascicule (which are double sheets, with the fold where the pages are turned) to open flat under their own weight and not be restricted by the spine.

The treatment stages:

Open fascicule showing repairs to be made with Japanese tissue.

Repairs were made (with wheat starch paste, a neutral adhesive and Japanese tissue) to the delicate spine edge which is still partly glued together by the animal glue used on the previous Western binding.

Detail showing remains of the original paper twists and their holes.

The paper twists are used to bind the loose leaves of each fascicule before it is sewn. They are made from a twist of paper pointed at one end and in this case inserted in two places into each fascicule. The Chinese style binding is very strong and the paper twists are often thought of as an ‘inner binding’. They hold each fascicule together before sewing and can act as a back up to the sewing if it breaks.

Paper twists inserted.

Trimmed paper twists.

One stitched fascicule.

Each of the 23 fascicules were re-stitched using the 4 existing sewing holes, using a strong linen thin thread. Extra care was taken to re-use these holes by sewing with a very blunt needle. The needle then finds the hole and eases gently through without causing any damage to the fragile paper.

Traditionally thin silk (lined with paper) is folded around the corner of each fascicule to protect the corners and give another source of strength. In this particular case aero cotton was lined with Japanese paper.

Re-sewn fascicules (with corners and covers).

Flexible opening.

Cases (Tao style cases) were custom made to ensure the fascicules have a snug fit and give very good protection to the book. It is a big advantage of the Chinese style of binding that the elements work together but can also be separated. The wrap around case has to be exactly the correct size. If it is too tight the fascicules can bend, if it is too loose fascicules may fall out! These cases were often remade several times in the book’s life. In this case strong, archival materials have been used so correct storage and handling will ensure good protection for the fascicules and cases in the future.

The wrap-around case is made of board covered in cloth, lined with paper, and then fastened with bone pegs.

“Chinese Book” is the expression used for the whole object. For this copy of the ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ 23 individually bound fascicules were encased in 6 wrap around cases (keeping with the format of the 6 western style volumes which arrived in the studio).

With thanks to Sara Chiesura for input on this post.

Bibliography:

Atwood, Catherine, ‘Japanese folded sheet books: Construction, materials and conservation’ in The Paper Conservator, papers from the 10th anniversary conference, 14-18 April 1986, part 2

Helliwell, David ‘The Repair and Binding of Old Chinese Books’ in The East Asian Library Journal, Spring 1998, Vol. VIII, no. 1

Ikegami, Kojiro, ‘Japanese Bookbinding’ adapted by Barbara B. Stephan, Wetherhill, London, 11th edition 2007

Wood, Michael, ‘Why is China’s greatest novel virtually unknown in the west?, in The Guardian, 12th February 2016

Conservator Flavio Marzo reports on his fascinating findings during the conservation of one of the books bearing the presumed signature of William Shakespeare.

As it is now the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare and the British Library has unveiled a major exhibition about the Bard of Avon, I thought it was a good time to share the conservation work I carried out on one of the items currently on exhibition. In 2005 I was given the opportunity to work on an item here at the British Library bearing one of the few surviving (possible) signatures of the poet. The book, possibly part of Shakespeare’s personal library, is a copy of “The Essayes of Morall, Politike and Militaire Discourses” written by Michaell Montaigne and published in London in 1603. The volume was sent to the conservation studio to be treated before being sent out on a loan and presented some very interesting and unusual features.

The Examination

The cover and the book block were detached and the main task was to secure them together ensuring that any treatment was clearly visible and unobtrusive.

Left: Front cover. Right: Cover and book block detached.

The sewing of the body of the book, most likely the result of a quite recent restoration campaign, was made on five narrow strips of tanned brown leather. Probably at the same time new end leaves were added and secured to the first and last sections through an over-casted stitching. There was no evidence of spine lining or glue applied to the spine. When the cover was removed the original sewing supports remained laced through the boards and the page with Shakespeare’s presumed signature was attached on the inside of the left board.

The inside of the detached cover with the signature page and the original supports laced with the cover.

The original sewing supports were made of strips of alum tawed leather with a second layer of tanned brown leather added to give thickness to the raised bands ensuring their visibility on the spine of the book.

Left (viewing from the inside): A strip of alum tawed leather with clear distortions due to the original passages of the thread of the original sewing. Right (viewing from the outside): One of the trimmed tanned leather strips used to create the raised effect on the spine cover.

Areas of the leather cover were missing at the head and tail. After a thorough examination of the cover I realised that the page bearing the signature, adhered onto the inside of the left board, was not originally attached as a paste down, and in fact was never originally placed at the beginning of the book. Careful visual examination revealed that a raised oval was showing through the page.

An image of the page taken with raking light clearly showing an oval shaped imprint from the recto of the page.

Since the page was adhered to the board along the edges only, it was possible to insert a light sheet between the page and the board. Under transmitted light it was possible to capture an image of what became clearly identifiable as a British Museum stamp - proving that this sheet was, until quite recently, still detached. Under transmitted light it was also possible to locate and record the watermark present on this page.

Left: British Museum stamp imaged with transmitted light. Right: Watermark of the page with the signature.

This watermark was subsequently compared with others found on the pages within the book block. Although no perfect match was found between the watermarks, there was a very strong similarity between them.

Other watermarks found within the book block.

Another detail that immediately caught my attention was the observation that the damages along the edges of this sheet did not match the losses and tears present along the edges of the first page of the book.

Mapping of the stains and damages show how different and inconsistent they are along the edges of the two sheets.

Remarkably, these damaged areas matched almost perfectly to the last restored original end leaf of the book-block proving that this sheet was originally placed at the back of the book and not at the beginning.

Matching damaged areas between the signature sheet and the last right end leaf.

The Repairs

The conservation of the volume involved the removal of the leather strip supports. These supports were failing and becoming brittle due to the acidic nature of the tanned leather. The strips were mechanically removed from the sewing thread passages and replaced with new linen tapes so that the book did not have to be re-sewn.

Removal of the leather strips (left) and their replacement with new linen tapes (right).

The leather of the cover was reinforced and in-filled with dyed Japanese paper and wheat starch paste.

Japanese paper and wheat starch paste are used because of their strength and reversibility.

A new spine lining made of light cotton fabric was adhered to the spine of the book-block to further secure the sewing. The extensions of this spine lining with the frayed linen supports were then inserted between the leather and the boards and adhered to the boards to secure the book-block back with its cover.

The strips of cotton fabric are adhered between the leather cover and the boards to secure the book-block with the cover.

Conclusions

It is hard to say why this page was tampered with. Possibly it was thought that by attaching this page to the front board it would become more difficult to steal. Sometimes conservation needs some forensic skills, but it always requires great attention to detail. Physical features when correctly interpreted can tell us a lot about the history of an item. It is extremely important when repairing items of historical value that conservators are careful not to inadvertently hide or remove features which may later prove to be significant.

This work, carried out a long time ago, is today still one of my most cherished projects. I am very pleased to be able to share it with you, especially during this year so significant in the history of the Great William Shakespeare.

Flavio Marzo

See this intriguing collection item for yourself at our exhibition: Shakespeare in Ten Acts open until Tuesday 6 September.