Winterthur Museum

Division of Conservation Library Collections

Conservation Report

BT Verso: missing board

BT Opening

Accession #/Call #: RBR PZ6 A29 e S Description/Title: Evenings at home; or the juvenile budget opened: consisting of a variety of miscellaneous pieces for the instruction and amusement of young persons. Artist/Author: John Aikin and Anna Leatitia Barbauld Imprint: London, JF Dove, St Johns Square Object Date: 1810-1833 Materials: Wove paper, thread, printing ink, marbled paper, millboard, adhesives (animal glue [est.] starch [est]), red leather (likely goat), gold tooled decoration FORMAT: XBook; __Pamphlet; __Manuscript; __Bound Manuscript; __Scrapbook; __Ephemera; __Photograph; __Photo Album; __Drawing; __Watercolor; __Print; __Photoreproduction; __Broadside; __Other: Dimensions: 4.21in x 1.73in x 6.41in Reason for Treatment or Examination: Missing back board, detached front board / spine, tenuously attached endbands Examined by: Austin Plann Curley Consulted: Chela Metzger, Emily Guthrie Report Date: 09/09/2013

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Treatment Type: __Major; X Moderate; __Minor; __Enclosure Photography: __no; __35 mm slides; __4 x 5 B&W; X Digital Description/Condition: Evenings at Home is a collection of short stories written for children. The collection, printed between 1792-1796, is an early example of childrens literature. The text was issued in serial, and later bound. On cursory examination, pagination appears complete through page 556. The binding is constructed with laced on boards and a hollow tube. Middletons earliest mention of hollow tubes is 1835 in Bibliopegia, which would suggest a later date for the binding. Marbled papers are decorated in a combed nonpareil pattern, a style that, according to Wolfe, was used in America between1840s-1870s. A binders ticket at the upper left corner reads Bound by / P. LOW / 21 Devonshire St Boston. Spawn and Kinsella depict an identical ticket in a binding from 1841. Covering material is red dyed vegetable tanned sheepskin with gold and blind tooling. The back board is missing. The front board is attached to the spine, but detached from the textblock. The attachment of spine to back board is tenuous. Leather is friable at the outer joint, the board edges, and the spine. The textblock is built of medium weight toothy wove paper. The spine is sawn in as many as 14 stations, though not all are used. The placement of the unused sewing marks is consistent throughout the textblock. Unused sewing stations may relate to an earlier binding. Sewing is abbreviated (2-on) over 5 thin cords. The book is shaped into a moderate round with no pronounced backing. Sewing is intact throughout the textblock and the textblock remains functional, with no preferential openings. The spine is lined with a single layer of blank paper adhered with animal glue (est). Sewn endbands are complete, but loose, at the head and tail. Made end papers incorporating a marbled folio is tipped to the first and last fly leaves. It appears that 3 of the 5 sewing supports (the two nearest the head and the tail and the center) were laced into the boards, while the other 2 were clipped close to the shoulder. The boardto-text attachment includes 3 laced-in cords, marbled folio, and covering leather. The remaining board is stiff millboard. The leather covering material is well adhered to the front board, though there is heavy wear at the joint. The spine is present with no losses. Covering leather is impressed with a fine pebbled pattern in imitation of goatskin. The spine is broken into 6 panels by 5 false raised bands; one panel bares the title, while the others are heavily decorated with gold tooling. The cover is tooled with a double gold line near the perimeter of the boards and a double blind line just within the gold boarder. The board edges are decorated with gold tooling, the turn-ins are decorated in blind. Bibliography Bernard Middleton, History of English craft bookbinding technique Richard J Wolfe, Marbled paper: its history, techniques, and patterns William Spawn and Thomas E Kinsella, American signed bindings

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Treatment Proposal: Consolidate Endbands - Reinforce attachment of endbands with strips of Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste. Replace Tube at Spine - Japanese paper, 1 on 1 off with wheat starch paste Replace and Attach Missing Board - Xerox image of marbled endsheet for pastedown for missing board. - Color Xerox front board - Cover replacement board with toned Japanese paper, cover inner edge with same paper. Do not turn in Japanese paper at inner edge. - Glue Xeroxed cover to outer side of board, marbled endsheet to inner side Attach Front Board/Spine - Attach spine to tube with wheat starch paste - Attach inner board at inner joint with hinge of Japanese paper Reinforce Outer Joints -Cover outer joints with toned Japanese paper Finishing -Inpaint Japanese paper to match red leather as needed

Approval (Major treatments):_________________________________Date:___________

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Treatment: Consolidate Endbands - Loose endbands were attached to the spine of the textblock with strips of Tengujo and wheat starch paste. Replace Tube at Spine - A tube of Japanese paper was built 1 on 1 of. Remaining material from the original tube was left in place. Replace and Attach Missing Board - A replacement board was built with laminated layers of millboard and 10-point board and covered in orange colored Japanese paper. - Xeroxes were made from the front cover, and the marbled page of the rear flyleaf and adhered to the replacement board. Attach Front Board/Spine - The leather spine was separated from the board. The decision to do so was made because the leather joint was worn and likely to fail with further use. The new joint material is a Japanese paper flange attached to the replacement board. Consolidate - A consolidant of Klucel G mixed with SC6000 was applied Japanese paper at the edges of the new board, and damaged leather near the spine. Reinforce Outer Joints - The outer joints were covered with Japanese paper and inpainted with Winsor Newton Cotman watercolors.1

AT Verso: rebuilt board

AT Opening

Cadmium Red Hue, Alizarin Crimson Hue, Yellow Ochre, and Cadmium Yellow Hue

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Housing: Treated by: Date completed:

None Austin Plann Curley 09/24/2013

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