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Some of the treatments that I completed include: reattaching the front board to a bible printed in Mohawk, humidifying and flattening parchment documents, consolidating friable pigments on an Audubon print, and making a chemise and girdle housing for a parchment covered book. The most complex treatment that I worked on was the rebinding of a copy of the Thomson Bible, which was originally bound by Jane Aitken in 1808. Aitken was a printer, publisher, and bookbinder who operated in Philadelphia in the late 18th to early 19th century. This was the first book that I had worked on that was bound by a woman, and I really wanted to honor her work.
The first step in this treatment was to make a sewing diagram to understand how the book was made. There were a surprising number of bookmarks in this bible, from short blond hair, to filigreed paper, to scraps of textile. I saved all insertions and documented their locations in the textblock. From there, I lifted as much of the original leather spine as I could and saved it for later reattachment. I reduced the brittle spine linings and pulled the original sewing. I adhered a thin strip of mulberry tissue to the center fold of each folio in preparation for resewing. I sewed the textblock using the original sewing pattern and reattached the original boards. A new spine covering was adhered to the spine of the textblock and the original spine leather was adhered on top. A part of this treatment that I particularly enjoyed was recreating the endbands based on fragments that I found when I was removing the original spine linings. Overall, I am really happy with how this treatment turned out.
My time at the APS and WUDPAC have prepared me for the next step of my conservation journey. I now have experience with the in-situ repair of books as well as more complex rebinding and rebacking work. I have more experience treating parchment artifacts, and I have expanded my skillset for constructing library housings. I feel prepared to begin my third-year internship at the Library of Congress, which starts mid-September. I am looking forward to working on the paper repair of Persian manuscripts, the construction of daguerreotype cases, and the stabilization of parchment fragments. I have a deep appreciation for historic craftsmanship and I am always amazed and inspired with every artifact that comes across my bench. I am excited for the learning opportunities and new experiences that this year will bring.
— Brittany Murray, WUDPAC Class of 2025
