Services
The Preservation Lab offers conservation services and preservation consulting to cultural heritage institutions.
The conservation treatments conducted by The Preservation Lab focus on bound materials, parchment manuscripts, and paper-based artifacts such as prints, drawings, maps and blueprints. Treatment may range from minor repairs intended to stabilize an item using minimal intervention to full treatments which can include extensive repair and chemical mitigation of damage and degradation. All treatments are conducted with chemically stable, durable materials in accordance with the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works’ code of ethics and guidelines for practice.
The Preservation lab does not offer services to private individuals. A good resource for finding conservators to work with private individuals is the American Institute for Conservation website.
Treatment Types
An Account Books of Jones and Rammelsberg
This is an account book of Jones and Rammelsberg, cabinet and furniture makers who operated in Cincinnati, Ohio, containing handwritten customer transactions from 1842-1844. The binding was completely detached and lost, which left the textblock susceptible to significant damage such as a distorted spine, significant surface dirt and insect frass, and water damage resulting in mold. Ultimately, the textblock was disbound, washed, and received an aqueous phytate treatment to stabilize the iron gall manuscript ink. The treated and washed leaves were resewn and bound in a new conservation binding. View the treatment documentation for this item.
An Impartial History of the Rise, Progress, and Extinction of the Late Rebellion in Britain in the Years 1745 and 1746
A chapbook is a small 18th century booklet that was cheaply produced and sold on the street. In this volume, there are three different chapbooks bound together: An Impartial History of the Rebellion in Britain in the Years 1745 and 1746, A Token for Children, and The Life and Adventures of Robin Hood. There was significant deterioration and damage to the binding with a detached upper board, a compromised lower board, and damage to the spine. The textblock also had several detached pages, brittle spine linings, broken and slit sewing, tears, and surface dirt. To treat the book, the chapbooks were removed from the binding and separated, loose pages were reattached, the sewing was repaired, and each chapbook was given its own conservation paper case. All three books and the original binding were housed in a custom corrugated clamshell. View the treatment documentation for these chapbooks.
Trojanische Alterthumer
This is a collection of 218 photographic plates, likely silver gelatin, and a collection of unbound essays by Dr. Heinrich Schliemann that documents the 1870’s excavation in Troy. As this collection is highly used, the curator requested that the plates be flattened and supported in a more appropriate enclosure, and to bind the text so that loose gatherings would not be in danger of becoming lost. The mounted photographic prints were surface cleaned and were then humidified and flattened. The textblock was sewn on linen tapes with conservation endbands sewn at the head and tail, and was bound in a new conservation case binding, with a surrogate of the original cover image printed and adhered to the cover of the binding. All items were housed together in a custom corrugated clamshell enclosure. View the treatment documentation for this item.
Cincinnati Business Map
This is an oversized map showing the location of business enterprises in an area bound by the Ohio River, Broadway, Race and Sixth streets in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the only copy at the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library. The map received conservation treatment in preparation for digitization by the Digital Services department. Before conservation treatment, several printed areas were overlapping each other, reducing the legibility of the map. This illegibility was caused by the poor alignment of printed text when the map was previously lined to a cloth backing. A time-lapse video of part of the conservation treatment was shot and edited by Jessica Ebert; in this video Ashleigh Schiezser and Catarina Figueirinhas are lining sections of the washed map with Sekishu tissue and a mixture of wheat starch paste and 3% methyl cellulose. View the treatment documentation of this map.
War Bond Posters
This is a large collection of WWI and WWII war bond posters from the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library. The collection consists of hundreds of posters that have been surveyed for condition issues and have been receiving conservation treatment in small batches. The posters are lithographs and the condition issues range from superficial dirt, small tears around the edges, large losses, staining, previous repairs with pressure sensitive tape, or adhered to acidic board supports. As the conservation treatment concludes for each small batch, the posters are digitized and housed in polyester L-sleeves with Dove Gray buffered paper in flat map cases. View the treatment documentation for the War Bond Posters.
Whitehall, April 26, 1746
This is a small pamphlet composed of one gathering with two folios. It belongs to the Archives and Rare Books Library and is part of the Jacobite collection. The pamphlet had been previously folded, and was tearing along the fold. In addition, there was staining throughout. Conservation treatment was conducted to repair the torn folios, reduce staining, and mend small tears along the edges of each folio. The pamphlet was then housed in a manuscript folder. Several specialized photographic techniques were used to highlight the condition issues of the pamphlet and the improvements after treatment, including raking light and transmitted light. View the treatment documentation for this pamphlet.
German Prayer Book
This is a stiff board parchment binding with vellum pages suffering from characteristic distortion caused by improper storage. Owned by the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, this object was treated to flatten the convex covers and repair the inner cover hinges. In order to prevent the binding from distortions in the future, the binding received a custom compression enclosure. Compression enclosures help to both buffer the parchment from fluctuations in temperature and humidity in the environment as well as restrain books under light tension inside the box. Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) was also performed on an illuminated page to document the flaking media. View the treatment documentation of this book.
Vergili
This is a rare facsimile of a parchment text bound in a semi-limp parchment binding, owned by the Classics Library at the University of Cincinnati where it is used often for scholarly research. Both the parchment cover and the paper textblock were conserved during treatment. This is an example of a full conservation treatment where the textblock was disbound, the parchment facsimile pages were repaired, and the text was re-cased into the original parchment covers. View the treatment documentation of this book.
Diploma, Cincinnati College, William Elwood Wynne
This is a parchment diploma, received by the Archives and Rare Books Library at the University of Cincinnati as a new acquisition in poor condition. It was adhered overall to a dark brown acidic backing paper and taped to an acidic paper mat. The diploma was treated to remove damaging acidic parts. In preparation for storage it was humidified and flattened, and then mounted to a museum mat board. The diploma was housed in an archival sink mat to be used for both long term storage and display. View the treatment documentation for this diploma.
Valley of the Kings Artist Book
This artist book consists of a collection of five clay tablets, each with a metal stand, and came to the Preservation Lab for cloth clamshell enclosure. The tablets were received in a small black box created by the artist and an accompanying artist note. The metal stands were stored in a plastic zipper bag, separate from the clay tablets, to protect them from possible corrosion caused high relative humidity levels and to prevent the stands from possibly scratching the clay tablets. The clay tablets were stored in custom polyethylene bags with Ethafoam sheet supports and then housed together in a small corrugated banker’s box with a drop-down side. The artist’s enclosure and the banker’s box were stored side by side in a corrugated tray lined with Volara foam that allows for both boxes to be easily removed from the cloth covered clamshell enclosure. View the treatment documentation for the housing of this artist book.
Buddhist Religious Treatise Palm Leaf
This is a palm leaf book that is used in classroom instruction by UC’s Archives and Rare Books Library. It came to the Preservation Lab to receive custom housing and a preservation surrogate to facilitate better handling and exhibition. The palm leaf received a custom cloth clamshell enclosure with Volara foam supports and is stored next to two surrogate palm leaves. The surrogate leaves, printed on an Epson SureColor P7000 printer, are stored in Vivak and polyester encapsulations within two-sided window mats, featuring magnetic closures. The surrogate leaves allow students to experience a palm leaf book, handling the stable, support surrogate pages instead of the fragile palm leaves. View the treatment documentation for this palm leaf binding.
Le bréviaire Grimani à la Bibliothèque Marciana de Venise
This full velvet binding is part of UC’s Classics Library’s collection and came to the Preservation Lab for treatment following the 2019 Adopt-A-Book campaign. The binding is in fair condition, with a highly discolored spine from years of being stored in an acidic cardboard slipcase. Along with minor treatment to clean and stabilize the textblock of the binding, this book also received a custom cloth covered clamshell enclosure with integrated cradle. The enclosure allows provides long-term storage and promotes easy and safe handling by users and staff with an intuitive, collapsible cradle that is incorporated into the enclosure. View the treatment and housing documentation for this book.
PHOTOGRAPH ‐ [Pres. Ronald Reagan, Benjamin Gettler pictured over Reagan’s left shoulder]
This photograph is part of an archival collection of Benjamin Gettler. The image is of Ronald Reagan sitting with others at the white house. A jar of jelly beans on the table in front. The photograph is adhered overall to an acidic rigid board support. The edges of the board are covered in yellowed tape. The board support is covered with a blue paper that has yellowed to a light green color. Treatment consisted of removal of the mount, humidification, and flattening. The photograph was housed in a polyester L-sleeve and mounted on an archival board, and a surrogate was created for display. View the treatment documentation for this photograph.
Stereographs – 15 hinged boxes, approx. 708 views
This is a group of over 600 stereoview photographs that are stored in 15 cloth-covered lidded boxes. The stereoview slides were covered in dirt and in need of rehousing; approximately six slides exhibited greater damage. The original boxes were in poor condition and constructed out of acidic materials. Treatment consisted of surface cleaning for the dirty slides and further repair on the six more damaged slides. The original boxes were repaired and rehoused in 2 custom-made corrugated clamshell boxes. View the treatment documentation of the stereographs.
Photograph, Oxley husband in uniform
This is a black and white photograph within a pink mat and gold frame. The Frame contains US aviation wings. The original mat reads, “W. Carson Webb – Cincinnati.” Overall, the frame and glass are covered in dirt and grime. There is a scratch on the chin of the airman. The photograph was unframed, imaged in the Preservation Lab with a DSLR camera and surrogates were printed with a pigmented ink jet P7000 Epson printer on Epson double weight matte paper ISO Brightness of 84% and Opacity of 94% (S041385). The surrogates were housed in polyester L‐sleeves and mounted within archival mats for inclusion into Winkler’s collection. View the treatment documentation for this photograph.
Madisonville Sesquicentennial Scrapbook
This is an oversized scrapbook owned by the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Library’s Madisonville branch celebrating Madisonville’s sesquicentennial in 1959. The scrapbook contains a variety of media, including silver gelatin photographs, newspaper clippings, and other ephemera. It came to the Preservation Lab with significant condition issues caused by an inability to properly display, exhibit and use the scrapbooks due to space restrictions in the library and the size of the scrapbook, which is nearly four and a half feet wide when open. Treatment consisted of creating a new fully encapsulated binding and an oversized, permanent custom mount to support the book, thus allowing users to experience the scrapbook without moving it to a nearby table. View the treatment documentation for this scrapbook.
Collection of Medals
This is a collection of two medals from the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library. The medals were brought to the Preservation Lab to receive proper housing in an archival sink mat for safe long-term storage and display. View the rehousing documentation for these medals.
William Howard Taft Maquette
This maquette of William Howard Taft belongs to UC Libraries’ Archives and Rare Books Library. The green putty maquette is mounted onto a metal rod that is screwed onto a wooden base. It was constructed in the 1990’s in preparation for the construction of a bronze state on the UC campus. Condition issues included the vulnerability of the putty, which is soft to the touch, accumulated dirt, screws protruding from top of the wooden base, and most pressing of all, an oozing accretion of a dark brown material leeching from the base of the maquette and running down the metal rod. Treatment consisted of removing the protruding screws to allow for safe handling and mechanically reducing the dark brown ooze. View the treatment documentation of the Taft marquette.