Highlights in this issue
Editorial
Jonathan Ashley-Smith, Head of Conservation Department
Although the Conservation Department of today bears little resemblance to the Department that was established a little more than thirty years ago, the change has always been evolutionary rather than revolutionary.
The conservation of Charles Dickens' manuscripts
Annette Low, Book Conservator, Conservation Department
The National Art Library (NAL) in the Victoria and Albert Museum counts amongst its treasures the original manuscripts of most novels of Charles Dickens. Together with proofs and letters they were bequeathed by Dickens to his friend John Forster and are now part of the Forster Collection in the NAL.
The mounting of single leaf parchment & vellum objects for display and storage
Daniel Norman, Conservation Technician, Conservation Mounting Section, Conservation Department
An exhibition of manuscripts at the V&A brought to light the problems associated with displaying and storing single leaf vellum and parchment objects and proved an excellent opportunity for research.
The use of vacuum packing in Australia
Helen Shenton, Head of Paper and Book Group, Conservation Department
Using a machine from the food industry (used to package, for example, turkeys) bundles of newspapers are put into plastic bags and the air is extracted. The bags are produced from 80 micron coextruded plastic: 70% linear low density polyethylene inside to enable sealing at a reasonably low flow temperature, 30% nylon outside to give toughness.
October 1993 Issue 09
- Editorial
- The conservation of Charles Dickens' manuscripts
- WARP (wooden artefact rheology project)
- What is 3-Carene?
- The mounting of single leaf parchment & vellum objects for display and storage
- The use of vacuum packing in Australia
- Conservation course study trip, Rome 1993
- RCA/V&A conservation course abstracts: final year projects, 1993
- New students for the academic year 1993/ 94