23 replies to this topic

[khaki]

I purchased a Dec 1914 London newspaper for a few dollars, sadly it was folded and already broken into two halves, very brittle condition overall, and I don't think anything can be done with it to preserve it in its complete format. All options I could think of are too expensive to contemplate. I also thought of cutting out the military advertisements and framing them separately, but destroying the paper goes against the grain, It also has interesting articles including a column about DSO awards including  Capt., Bernard Law Montgomery and Lt. Hanbury-Sparrow. I don't really expect any real solutions but thought I would put it 'out there'

khaki

[tootrock]

What was the title of the newspaper,and what was the date of publication.
It may be on the British Newspaper Library Archive website (and I have a subscription!).

Martin

[khaki]

Hello Martin.

The paper is 'The Times" and the date is 2nd December 1914.

khaki

[tootrock]

Unfortunately "The Times" has not been digitised by the British Newspaper Library Archive, nor have any other national newspapers.
Many public libraries in the UK have access to the Times Digital Archive 1785 - 2005.

Martin

[seaJane]

Khaki,

What you need is Melinex envelopes - anti-static, acid-free envelopes into which you can either slide the whole paper or individual spreads. Because of my library contacts I know Gresswell best, so am posting this link just as an example:
http://www.gresswell...opes-22775.html

If you can make contact with someone from the Institute of Conservation http://www.icon.org.uk/ or have a local rare books library (especially one with a team of NADFAS* volunteers) they may be able to provide additional advice.
*National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies.

seaJane

[seaJane]

Just realised that you said you paid a few dollars rather than £sd, so if you like I can investigate suppliers elsewhere?

[centurion]

khaki, on 25 April 2012 - 02:28 PM, said:

I purchased a Dec 1914 London newspaper for a few dollars, sadly it was folded and already broken into two halves, very brittle condition overall, and I don't think anything can be done with it to preserve it in its complete format. All options I could think of are too expensive to contemplate. I also thought of cutting out the military advertisements and framing them separately, but destroying the paper goes against the grain, It also has interesting articles including a column about DSO awards including  Capt., Bernard Law Montgomery and Lt. Hanbury-Sparrow. I don't really expect any real solutions but thought I would put it 'out there'

khaki

As a one time friend of my grandfather famously put it "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold" - this also applies to centre folds. I know the feeling - I have a French newspaper announcing the German surrender in 1945, bought in Paris by a relative on the day it was issued, together with some informal and unpublished photos of the celebrations at SHAEF, where afore said relative was serving, that day. I'd like to display them together but cannot see how to do it. Seajane is right, acid free archival envelopes seem to be the only way but whilst this preserves them for a while it is no way to display them  

They aren't cheap either

[Pete1052]

The acid content of most newsprint paper made after around 1890 causes old newspapers to self-destruct.  Paradoxically the pre-1900 ragpaper type of paper that newspapers once used lasts a lot longer.

[truthergw]

For a low tech method of spreading the paper out for a pictorial record. Let it sit for a while in a bathroom. I mean a British bathroom with a bath full of hot water. What long term deleterious effect this may have  I'll let SeaJane expand on.

[centurion]

truthergw, on 25 April 2012 - 05:40 PM, said:

For a low tech method of spreading the paper out for a pictorial record. Let it sit for a while in a bathroom. I mean a British bathroom with a bath full of hot water.

Presumably as opposed to all those non British bathrooms with baths full of cold water, bootleg whisky, pasta, asses milk, borscht etc  Gosh the **** really do begin at Calais! But wait a bit - it needs to be a middle or upper class British  bathroom - don't the lower orders keep coal in their baths? Better make it a Morningside bathroom to be on the safe side.  

[Grantowi]

What about laminating pouch's ?
Iv'e done some newspaper articles and they sem to be ok

Grant

[centurion]

Grantowi, on 25 April 2012 - 06:35 PM, said:

What about laminating pouch's ?
Iv'e done some newspaper articles and they sem to be ok

Grant

Hate to rain on your parade but I've seen reports that this hastens disintegration and all you can do is watch your laminated paper turn into a black unreadable sheet. That's why I've backed off from using this approach.

[khaki]

Thanks for the observations and idea's, but do you think it would be better (and easier) to try and save portions rather than watch the whole thing disintegrate? I hate the thought, but everytime I examine it, no matter how carefully, I leave a trail of brown fragments on the table. I don't know how but  I will try to save and include the date with the article, if I go that way.

thanks

khaki

[CGM]

I can't help with preservation but I recommend you photograph the whole paper before it deteriorates any more.
Then you can look at / display the photos while you decide on your next step.

[Grantowi]

centurion, on 25 April 2012 - 06:51 PM, said:

Hate to rain on your parade but I've seen reports that this hastens disintegration and all you can do is watch your laminated paper turn into a black unreadable sheet. That's why I've backed off from using this approach.

Not raining on nothing, just giving my experience
Ive used acid free pouch's and so far the paper look like it did when it was laminated (11 yrs on)
I would have thought that the exclusion of air / oxygen from the paper would have helped the presevation process

Grant

[seaJane]

Grant,
That will work provided you don't lock any humidity or mould into the envelope with the paper...

Agree with CGM that a digital photograph is the first preservation option for the information before the physical state gets any worse.
I have seen fragile paper preserved by being pasted between two layers of very thin Japanese paper (thin enough to read through). But it's remarkably expensive.

If you google "preserving newspapers" there's plenty to read up on.

Bathroom will be survivable as long as there is cool air circulating through it with the steam - still, warm, damp air and something organic to get your mycelium into is a mould-spore's dream...

sJ

[Grantowi]

Many thanks for the confirmation sJ
I can stop fretting that I'll be passing down sheets of black plastic now

Grant

[centurion]

Grantowi, on 25 April 2012 - 09:12 PM, said:

Not raining on nothing, just giving my experience
Ive used acid free pouch's and so far the paper look like it did when it was laminated (11 yrs on)
I would have thought that the exclusion of air / oxygen from the paper would have helped the presevation process

Grant

The acid is still working

[Grantowi]

centurion, on 25 April 2012 - 11:28 PM, said:

The acid is still working

That may be so
But iv'e got a 1915 newspaper article about my Grandfather that I can take out any time I want, whenever I want and can take it to show other family members without fear that it's going to turn to dust at the next touch and it still looks as good as it did 11 years ago when I got it.
I dont have a vast amount of money to spend on preservation and dont see the point of collecting things of interest just to wrap them in paper and store away in drawers or cupboards, my family want to see and hold the newspaper article in their hands, not listen to me telling them about it

Grant

[David Filsell]

A little of  this fascinating topic but can any one advse me. I have a number of rather damaged pre war film posters. Do I need a specialist to attend to these - and if so is there one that anyone can recommend - or is it a job for a 'normal' conservationist?
Regards
David

[seaJane]

I think you'll find that a "normal" conservator is also a specialist...   as in my first post you should be able to find one here: http://www.icon.org.uk/. Just don't trust anyone who reaches for the sellotape.

If you're in doubt the nearest Local History Centre can probably let you know who does similar work for them.

[bob lembke]

I am knowledgable but not expert in conservation. Much of my material is in archival storage methods
and materials, bought from probably the finest firm of that sort in the US, whose name I have cleverly
forgot for the moment.

One suggestion. There are two basic kinds of "acid-free paper", one is simply certified acid-free, with
a neutral Ph. The other is "buffered", in other words the paper is impregnated with buffering agents,
which will actually neutralize acids. I have long felt that interleaving acid loaded material with sheets
of the buffered paper would be useful; using merely acid free paper would probably have some acid leach
into the paper.

But dealing with old acid-loaded paper, especially newsprint, is an uphill struggle.

Another tip; most plastics will damage photos and perhaps newsprint as well. Most contain agents called
"plasticizers", and these are damaging. Many of my old photos are in special sheets of the right material
with pockets of various sizes, snapped into an archival cased binder. Unfortunately, since I have not bought
any of these materials in a long time (I bought quite a supply), I have forgotten the term for this sort of
plastic. ( I can hunt about for an old catalog.) A clue is that the right plastic is rather
stiff, due to the missing plasticizers, of course.

There are a lot of these "magnetic" plastic photo items and sheets, which damage photos.

Just got off my butt and looked in a drawer five feet away, and there is an envelope of these archival photo
sheets. The firm is Light Inpressions, and the pocket sheets are described as "Archival PhotoGuard
(Trade-marked) Polypropylene Storage Pages". Below it mentions, in a list of virtues, "Archivally safe -
no harmful PVC". PCV means "poly viynal (spelling?) chloride", a common plastic. That is the bad stuff.

Bob Lembke

[David Filsell]

Seajane,
Many thanks.
David

[ph0ebus]

I would say that digitizing the document should be done no matter what course of action you choose, if for no other reason than you have a copy of the original when (and it will be when) the original bites the dust.  These types of items were designed to be disposable, much to the chagrin of those of us who like to hold on to things like this.  Archival materials are a great idea but they are only delaying the inevitable.

Conservation is incredibly expensive, and will not ensure the indefinite survival of the document, unless you have an endless pot of money to keep throwing at it.  I bought a rare set of deck plans for a ship I am researching rather inexpensively and subsequently learned that conservation of the damaged plans would add hundreds of dollars to the price of purchase.  However, carefully scanning them, and a little time with photoshop gave me a digital, cleaned up, fully restored set of plans for no cost whatsoever.

-Daniel