We're on a Roll...

Avid blog followers may remember this post from back in August of 2008... Those oversized maps and documents that we unrolled for the first time so many months ago are finally receiving conservation treatment!

The rolled documents arrived to HSP housed in long plastic bags, tied at both ends with cotton tape.

Each document is removed from the bag, slowly unrolled and weights are used to hold the document open.

Most of the maps are covered with a layer of dust, soot, and dirt that is removed with vulcanized rubber erasers and Nilfisk vaccuum.

The documents are rolled around 4" diameter acid-free, lignen-free archival tubes with a layer of Microchamber paper and an outer layer of Tyvek. The tube is cut to size for each document using a hacksaw and then sanded smooth.

Cotton tape is used to secure the Tyvek around the rolled document. The newly-housed documents will be labeled and stored on shelves.

Conserving the Chew Papers: Mold Removal

This is the third in a series of blog posts devoted to the conservation being performed on the documents, books and manuscript materials in the Chew Family Papers Collection. See the first post on enclosures, here, and the second on paper conservation, here.



From the basement to the attic to the stables, most of the Chew Family Papers were stored for many years in unstable environments. As a result, portions of the collection arrived to the Historical Society with significant amounts of mold. In order for the material to be processed (remember this post from May 2007?), these documents had to be treated by our mold technicians.



HSP has a designated mold removal facility with its own ventilation and air filtration system. The technicians wear Tyvek suits, nitrile gloves and respirator masks. Mold removal entails vacuuming with a HEPA-filtered vacuum and wiping book covers with alcohol.

Preservation Technicians Anni Altshuler and Watsuki Harrington vacuuming moldy documents.

For the safety of researchers, items that have been cleaned for mold are clearly labeled, as seen in the image at the top of this post.

Conserving the Chew Papers: Paper Conservation

This is the second in a series of blog posts devoted to the conservation being performed on the documents, books and manuscript materials in the Chew Family Papers Collection. See the first post, on enclosures, here.



From large manuscript maps to tiny scraps of note papers, there is a wide range of documents in the Chew Family Papers and a variety of conservation procedures for these papers.


One of the least invasive conservation methods for paper is dry cleaning or surface cleaning. Removing the dirt and dust off a document not only improves the appearance of the document, it keeps the hands of researchers clean. Eraser bits and vulcanized rubber sponges are the two products that are used to clean documents at HSP. Extreme care and patience is needed for this process due to the fragility of paper. Attention must be paid to any pencil markings or writing on documents so they are not removed.

The vulcanized rubber sponge is used to clean the linen backing of a manuscript map.


Paper documents are best stored flat. In the Chew collection, many items have been folded or rolled requiring humidification and flattening. Over time, fibers in paper can become stiff and brittle. Humidification helps the fibers in paper to relax. When a folded, crumpled, wrinkled, or rolled document is humidified, it can then be opened with ease and without damage to the paper.

The document is placed in a humidification chamber. The document is then unfolded or unrolled, placed between blotter papers and pellon, and put under weight.


A document is washed to de-acidify and clean the paper. Washing also reconditions the fibers making the paper pliable and malleable. Prior to washing a document, it is necessary to test to see if the ink is water soluble. The document is placed in a bath of deionized water. After twenty minutes, it is carefully removed and placed between blotters and pellons to dry.



Once papers have been cleaning, humidified and/or washed, they are ready for paper mending. HSP only uses wheat paste and Japanese papers for mending. Often the Japanese papers are dyed to match the color of the document using high quality acrylic paints. A thin coating of wheat paste is applied to a strip of Japanese paper. The glued-out strip is carefully placed on the tear, burnished into place and put under weight to dry flat.


Before and during mending. The excess Japanese paper will be trimmed.

Conserving the Chew Papers: Enclosures

This is the first in a series of blog posts devoted to the conservation being performed on the documents, books and manuscript materials in the Chew Family Papers Collection.

Creating custom enclosures for books and papers is necessary from a conservation and preservation standpoint. Enclosures are made in a variety of ways, specific to the needs of the collection material using chemically stable materials. Housing collection materials in a box or wrapper helps to provide protection from the threat of any environemental issues (such as dust, light, or moisture) and eases stress on a book as it is moved on and off a shelf.

Multi-Use Boxes are constructed of corrugated acid-free blue board to the specific measurements of the material. The box opens like a clamshell and is made to be able to sit upright on a shelf like a book.

Compartments can be created for odd-sized objects or multiple items.



For special items, a cloth-covered Clamshell Box is constructed. Clam-shell boxes provide the same protection as a multi-use box, but allow for a much nicer presentation. Intern Ansley Joe created this clamshell box for a leather journal/case belonging to Elizabeth B. Chew.

Inset Boxes are created for items that need to be housed together or for smaller books. The boxes are constructed of a heavy-weight (20-pt. thickness) acid-free library board, with flaps to close over the inset portion. The box is then inserted into a custom-made slipcase.

The book is easily lifted out of its compartment by a piece of cotton tape attached to a flap of 20-pt.

Other enclosures performed on materials in the Chew Papers Collection are Wrappers. This approach is best for books or pamphlets that are too thin to create a multi-use box for, but require protective housing.

An Old Approach in Conservation

We came across a few interesting documents in the past few weeks. It was not the information provided within the documents necessarily, but the conservation method performed upon the documents.

The first, front and back:


And the second:



This sewing is an intriguing non-adhesive conservation method that has actually held up fairly well in both documents over the years!

It's Better than the Movies in the Conservation Lab

Sometimes working in the conservation lab is like being in National Treasure. A map from 1775, showing property division between Richard Penn and Mary and Sarah Masters, came into the lab needing paper mending. The map had been mended previously with paper similar to paper the map was made from.

On a hunch - I took the map to the light table. . .

. . . and secrets are revealed! The map was mended with a letter signed by a Chew - probably one of the Bens. It discusses building materials including boards and white pine posts and the construction of a fence around Turner Camac (of the wooden street in Philadelphia) and Richard Penn's property.

And even though it doesn't reveal the location of the Knights Templar Treasure, it's still really fun to work in the conservation lab.

Dealing with the Madness

Every so often Cathleen walks into the conservation lab with some serious paper madness. These poor documents have been rolled and/or folded for so long it is impossible to open them without the possibility of causing major damage. But once they've been humidified and flattened we start finding the real gems.

This beautiful little document was in a group of papers from the mid 1700's in what seems to be a land dispute in Pennsylvania. It was written by the mayor of London and contains two proofs of marriage as one can see by the vellum tabs in the middle of the second image above, complete with blue paper on the back of the embossed stamp.

I just really liked the document as an object including all of the burns on the paper from the vellum. The last page is blank and contains a beautiful watermark that, unfortunately, I couldn't capture.