Found in Libraries

I was reviewing a few issues of Raw for an upcoming exhibit.  This is one of their early issues, Volume1, No. 2 from 1980.  The curator would like to display the cover but I still look through the whole magazine

 to make sure there aren't any hidden difficulties with putting the item on display.  And in this issue, I found a special prize from the publisher.

do you see it?  Take a closer look...can you guess what it is?

Yes, it's bubble gum!  Although, it is so dry and brittle that it has broken into little pieces, which in a way is a good thing too otherwise I might be a little worried about the gum attracting pests.  But I saw no signs of insect interest when looking through the magazine.  So all is well for the book to go on exhibit.

An Expose from South Carolina

I think "exploded" had a different meaning back then...

Really? Really, Mr. Framer, do you think you used enough glue??

Cradles for Miniature Books

I gave a training session to a colleague last week, she needed to know how to display a group of miniature books safely and so I showed her a very simple, cost-effective method for making custom cradles out of 20 pt. board. 

My colleague has good hand skills although hands-on is not her primary role (she talks about this in her blog post), and I felt comfortable showing her the method and then leaving her to the task.  This can be a tough choice for a conservator who, in most cases, has the primary responsibility for the physical well-being of the collection.  Should I examine and document every item that goes on exhibit? should I make every custom cradle and install every item to ensure that nothing happens to our books? Perhaps, in an ideal world yes, but those who work in libraries know that life is far from ideal.  There are many projects and exhibits that happen on short notice and the more people who can "pitch in" the better.  Being the lone book conservator at a large special collections library means I have to make strict choices about how I spend my time so that the really needy books get the treatment they need.  Having trained my colleague means I can step back from the exhibits role just a little, and knowing that I do spend a lot of time with our library collections and will see or hear about any difficulties gives me confidence in this choice. 

Increase Mather has remarkably neat handwriting

from his manuscript "Concerning Apparitions"

click to see the manuscript on my flickr account

his father, Richard Mather, not so much

 

I won't bother with a flickr link for this one since his writing is truly illegible.  When you work in libraries and archives, this is more of what you're used to.  Researchers often become familiar with a given person's hand, but the cramped script of the good old days is often beyond me, which is why I was so struck my Increase Mather's neat printed hand.  Remember, they were most likely writing with a goose quill pen!