Saving Books

Book conservation is a fascinating process. We got to witness some gifted conservationists at the British Library Centre for Conservation. The idea in conservation is to do as little as possible but as much as necessary to strengthen the book and keep it from completely falling apart. And in the case of the British Library, keep it fit for use. We saw some people working on old bound newspapers and heard how they cleaned the pages, repaired the pages, and strengthened the binding. I also learned that you can wash paper in a special wash that de-acidifies it, and then put it through a wash that keeps it from developing more acid. And apparently (although we didn't get to see this first-hand) working with gold leaf is extremely delicate and you can't work on anything with gold leaf if you have a cold (sneezing, coughing) and it must be in a very controlled environment. One of our guides told that just the one project she was working on would probably take a good three to four weeks. It's definitely a career for people who are meticiculous and don't mind a little tedium now and then.