What Physical Evidence Can Show Us About Original Use

By Anna Friedman, Book Conservator, Smithsonian Institution Archives

William Dunlop Brackenridge field notebooks in SIA RU7186 Box 1 folder 4

So far on this blog, we have shown you some amazing images from the field notes here at the Smithsonian Archives and National Museum of Natural History. However, those images sometimes feel disembodied to me, since they are digitized out of their physical context, and my job as the project’s conservator is to protect, repair and rehouse the field books in their current physical form. The digital images are perfect, crystal clear surrogates for the written information, but do not necessarily convey the size or format of the notebook they’ve come from. One of the best parts of being a conservator is the ability to look at the physical evidence in an object and using the size, shape, orientation and construction of an object to inform a researcher on how it was used by its creator.

SIA RU7186 Box 1 folder 4 Pamphlet 3, Peru Expedition has a standard pamphlet binding sewn through the center fold

Take William Dunlop Brackenridge’s notebooks from his expedition to Peru or, more specifically, 16 quarto-size pamphlets. Normally, pamphlets are a single stack of papers, folded once and secured through that fold with staples or sewing, exactly the way magazines are secured together. The fourth pamphlet of the set, with notes from Obrajillo, Baños and Alpamarca, didn’t follow that pattern. Instead of being a pamphlet sewn through the folds like the others, this one had some pages that connected through the fold, some that didn’t and the whole thing was oversewn to keep all the pages together. Oversewing is a very inflexible binding. It creates fairly even perforations along the binding from the sewing, and adds extra stress in the paper along that same sewing line. Since paper gets brittle as it ages, oversewn pages frequently fracture along the sewing line and fall out of the binding. Oversewing also restricts the volume’s ability to open completely and therefore makes it harder to digitize because digitization equipment can damage the object.

After treatment image of oversewing holes; SIA RU7186, Box 1, folder 4, Pamphlet 4, Peru Expedition.

Elizabeth Childs and I spent some time looking at the odd pamphlet closely in order to figure out why it was sewn differently than the others, when it had exactly the same number of pages, was the same size and was made with the same materials. Inside the oversewing, the pages were in a strange order. The other pamphlets had 12 folios of paper sewn through the fold to create 24 leaves. In this pamphlet, the first six leaves of paper had been cut with a knife and were no longer connected through the fold, the following four leaves of paper were connected through the fold, followed by another six disconnected leaves, followed by another two complete folios. It became clear that someone, probably Brackenridge himself, had cut some pages out of the pamphlet and reorganized them, then secured them again in their new order.

After treatment image of the spine of an abnormal pamphlet whose sewing is not evenly dividing the pages; SIA RU7186, Box 1, folder 4, Pamphlet 4, Peru Expedition

Since the oversewing was problematic for the long-term stability of the pamphlet, we decided to remove the sewing and rebind the pamphlet by sewing through the fold, since that is so much less stressful on the paper. The problem: What to do about the pages that had no folds, because they had been sliced out?

The answer: loose guards. Since these pages did not have folds to sew through, we could repair some of the damage from the oversewing holes and add extra paper to sew through in one step. We adhered lightweight Japanese tissue strips to the cut-edge of the pages, taking care not to overlap any information if possible. Japanese tissue is a favorite of paper conservators because it is very thin, flexible and strong.  These Japanese paper strips extended the spine-side of the pages far enough to allow for a pamphlet sewing.

Loose guards extend the pages to allow for sewing and then are cut back so as to not interfere with original text. SIA RU7186, Box 1, folder 4, Pamphlet 4, Peru Expedition

The pamphlet now opens easily, the potentially damaging oversewing is gone, replaced by a binding that is considerably more flexible, and the stresses of folding will be borne by the new Japanese tissue guards, instead of the original material. With its new stable and flexible binding, this object is now ready for its digital debut! 

Comments

[SN]

Sarah, fantastic and thought-provoking questions. I can only hope that some of the researchers and historians who write for and read this blog will chime in with some answers. One thought I had was that in the days before 3 ring binders allowed for easily reordering or easily expanding personal notes, going so far as to cut out pages and sew them into the desired order might have served a similar purpose.

[Sarah Stauderman]

Very admiring of the solutions shown, but why would have "Brackenridge himself, had cut some pages out of the pamphlet and reorganized them, then secured them again in their new order." What additional sense does this make to the field notes? To what "use" does this particular original choice indicate? Thanks for clarifying.