[PADG:970] LC National Digital Library Program announces release of conservation paper

[Tamara Swora-Gober <tswo@xxxxxxx>]

The Library of Congress National Digital Library Program announces the
release of a paper discussing conservation treatment of the Jamestown
Records.  The paper is a special presentation for the Papers of Thomas
Jefferson at:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/mtjhtml/mtjhome.html

?The Jamestown Records of the Virginia Company of London: A
Conservator's Perspective?  by Sylvia R. Albro and Holly H. Krueger at:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/mtjhtml/mtjessay2.html

The Jamestown Records of the Virginia Company of London, part of the
Thomas Jefferson Papers at the Library of Congress, uniquely illuminate
a critical era of early American history.  The story told by the
Jamestown Records, presented to the general public for the first time
through The Thomas Jefferson Papers at the Library of Congress, is an
important one.  Jefferson incorporated them into his own papers because
he recognized their great historic value.  This essay by Sylvia R. Albro
and Holly H. Krueger, Senior Paper Conservators in the Conservation
Division at the Library of Congress, tells the remarkable story of how
these records were rescued from disintegration and suggests some of the
many ways in which the physical conservation of historic documents is
vital to the acquisition and preservation of historical knowledge.  The
presentation includes photographs of the original collection and its treatment.

Table of contents for the paper

Introduction 
Physical Condition of the Jamestown Records in 1994 
History of the Jamestown Records 
Paper Used in the Records 
Ink Used in the Records 
Discoloration Patterns in the Records 
Treatment of Silked Documents: Weighing the Options 
Mylar Treatment and Other Alternatives to De-Silking 
The De-silking Option 
De-silking the Jamestown Records 
Repairing the De-silked Documents by Leafcasting 
Treatment of Unsilked Pages 
Future Treatment of the Jamestown Records 

Please send questions and comments about this essay and all American
Memory content and collections to:  ndlpcoll@xxxxxxx