{"id":1298,"date":"2016-08-22T19:36:18","date_gmt":"2016-08-22T19:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjhblog.cjh.org\/index.php\/2016\/08\/22\/from-bags-to-riches-the-life-of-a-rare-book\/"},"modified":"2016-08-22T19:36:18","modified_gmt":"2016-08-22T19:36:18","slug":"from-bags-to-riches-the-life-of-a-rare-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/2016\/08\/22\/from-bags-to-riches-the-life-of-a-rare-book\/","title":{"rendered":"From Bags to Riches: The Life of a Rare Book Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"image\"<\/figure>\n
\n

Bagged Sobel Collection books in the <\/p>\n

American Jewish Historical Society stacks. The Sobel collection of
\nearly American Jewish printing was donated by the late Morris Sobel, former
\npresident of the American Jewish Historical Society, and his wife, Eleanor.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Here in the Werner
\nJ. and Gisella Levi Cahnman Conservation Laboratory we aim to prolong the life
\nof the Center\u2019s extensive paper-based collections. Flattening, cleaning and
\nmending documents in need of attention are routine procedures for us. Careful examination
\nof objects leads to an appropriate course of action. However, sometimes we find
\nthat there is not an obvious solution to every problem. Lately, we have faced red rot<\/i>, a challenging, but common issue
\nthat affects leather-bound books in many libraries. <\/p>\n

The American
\nJewish Historical Society\u2019s Sobel Collection is now receiving attention
\nfor red rot \u2013 the leather bindings have become brittle and are crumbling away
\nas red powder. As a new intern in the summer of 2014, it was my job to determine
\nwhy this collection was previously housed in plastic bags. I quickly discovered
\nthat red rot was the primary reason for bagging. The books surveyed were
\ntreated for structural and mold damage. For red rot, we aimed simply to prevent
\nfurther loss. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n
\n

American Jewish Historical Society\u2019s<\/p>\n

Sobel
\ncollection books in the lab immediately after un-bagging. Red rot afflicts the
\nedges of the top two books of the right stack. The leather has become so
\nbrittle as to have completely split down the spines. Photo credit: Shannon
\nMulshine.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The
\nmechanisms behind red rot are not fully understood, but typically affect 19th<\/sup>
\nand early 20th<\/sup> century vegetable-tanned leather. Leather
\nmanufacturing chemicals and rampant pollution following the onset of the
\nIndustrial Revolution together spelled trouble for leathers of this period (Falls
\nand Simonds, 2014)<\/a>. The Sobel Collection books were bound, or rebound, in the 19th<\/sup>
\nc. and 20th<\/sup> c. \u00a0The leather is
\ntherefore vulnerable to such damage. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n
\n

Minor
\nred rot along the edges, shoulder, and spine of a book in the <\/p>\n

American Jewish Historical Society\u2019s<\/p>\n

Sobel Collection.
\nPhoto credit: Shannon Mulshine. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Red powder
\nfrom these books breaks away during handling and soils all that it touches. The
\nleather is brittle, which causes cracks and losses, as seen in the photographs
\nabove. The bagging of the Sobel Collection by a previous caretaker, served as a
\ncost-effective solution to a messy problem. The bags kept loose pieces together
\nto avoid loss of important information and prevented powder from soiling
\nshelves and neighboring books. <\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n
\n

American Jewish Historical Society\u2019s<\/p>\n

Sobel collection books removed from the plastic
\nbags in which they were previously stored, now in custom-fit book wrappers.
\nPhoto credit: Shannon Mulshine. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Sobel
\nCollection survey is being re-initiated by a new intern, Christina, who will continue
\nto replace the bags with book wrappers. Because the quality of the plastic bags
\nis unknown, this will prevent potential harm to the books related to plastic deterioration.
\nBook wrappers are made with acid-free, lignin-free board and better support the
\nstructurally unstable books, while still containing loose debris and red powder
\nand acting as a buffer against pollutants and changes in the environment. <\/p>\n

Red rot
\ncannot be reversed. Like our book wrappers, most treatments aim simply to prevent
\nfurther loss of leather powder and seal against pollutant penetration. Consolidation<\/i>, for example, involves impregnating
\nleather with an adhesive. We are excited to hear about new, innovative
\ntreatments, such as one recently developed by The Leather Conservation Centre,
\nNorthampton <\/a>(Fletcher et al., 2012), and hope that they will one day enter the
\nconservator\u2019s toolbox of options for dealing with red rot on leather bindings. <\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n
\n

Poetry excerpts found between
\nthe leaves of an American Jewish Historical Society\u2019s Sobel Collection book of
\nreligious instruction. Photo credit: Shannon Mulshine. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As my
\ntwo-year tenure as an intern comes to an end, I reflect affectionately on my
\nfirst survey and rehousing project. Exposure to historical materials and their condition
\nissues lays the foundations of successful examination and connoisseurship, critical
\nto the conservation profession. The <\/p>\n

American Jewish Historical Society<\/p>\n

Sobel Collection books are stabilized
\nin their new housing and may continue to benefit one day if a better solution
\narises. Our intervention assumes its place as just one of many human efforts \u2013
\nincluding the binding and bagging of the books \u2013 to best serve our material
\nculture. <\/p>\n

Written by
\nShannon Mulshine, Graduate Conservation Intern at The Center for Jewish
\nHistory, and Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Library & Archive Conservation
\nspecializing in paper conservation at The Conservation Center of the Institute
\nof Fine Arts, NYU<\/p>\n

Citations:<\/p>\n

Falls, Eva and Lucas Simonds. \u201cRed Rot\u201d. AIC Wiki<\/i>. American Institute for Conservation of Historic and
\nArtistic Works, 20 August 2014. Web. 5 August 2016. <http:\/\/www.conservation-wiki.com\/wiki\/Red_rot<\/a>><\/p>\n

\u00a0* Fletcher, Yvette et al. \u201cInvestigation of
\nAcid-Deterioration in Leather Leading towards Finding a Suitable
\nProduct for Treatment.\u201d Leather & Related Materials Working Group
\nNewsletter<\/i>. International Council of Museums – Committee for Conservation,
\n12 January 2012. <\/p>\n

* Can be found at:\u201dNew Treatment
\nfor Red Rot\u201d. jeff peachey<\/i>. Blog. Jeff Peachey, 31 January 2012. Web. 5
\nAugust 2016. <https:\/\/jeffpeachey.com\/tag\/leather-conservation-centre\/<\/a>><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bagged Sobel Collection books in the American Jewish Historical Society stacks. The Sobel collection of early American Jewish printing was donated by the late Morris Sobel, former president of the American Jewish Historical Society, and his wife, Eleanor. Here in the Werner J. and Gisella Levi Cahnman Conservation Laboratory we aim to prolong the life of the Center\u2019s extensive paper-based collections. Flattening, cleaning and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[75,185,225,176,39,38,236,222,237,238],"class_list":["post-1298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-post","tag-american-jewish-historical-society","tag-american-jewish-historical-society-collections","tag-collections-services","tag-conservation","tag-library","tag-out-of-the-archives","tag-preservation","tag-rare-books","tag-red-rot","tag-werner-j-and-gisella-levi-cahnman-conservation-laboratory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1298\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}