2025 Poster Session

In 2022, the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) received an unusual object for treatment from the special collections library at Middlebury College. The book was a 19th century partial Quranic manuscript bound in lacquered boards. While this type of binding is not uncommon, what made it remarkable was that the manuscript was written on a substrate of incredibly fragile sandalwood veneer.  Nearly every leaf was cracked or fully broken and the sewing was no longer intact. Historic repairs and added wove paper borders had caused additional damage as adhesive strain had pulled on the veneer over time. The leaves were sewn on textile tapes and the tightback leather spine did not allow for safe opening or handling.  On top of all of this, the media was extremely soluble. In bringing the book to NEDCC, the client’s hope was to allow for continued, though limited, use, maintaining as much of the original structure and function of the volume as possible.  

The first and most obvious challenge that we faced was how to repair the sandalwood leaves.  Given the solubility of the media and the cracks running directly through text, traditional mending with Japanese paper and wheat starch paste was not an option. Instead we decided to employ a fine fiber stitch technique, originally developed by conservators at the British Library to repair a copper-corroded Mercator Atlas. Though no copper-based pigments were present in our manuscript, the benefits of a low-moisture repair for our purposes were obvious.  

In this technique, Japanese paper is blended into pulp which is dried in thin strips.  Individual kozo fibers are then dipped in a very dry wheat starch paste and placed across the tear as a bridge, providing a strong and flexible mend. The result is a nearly invisible repair. Under magnification, these mends resemble stitching, which gives the technique its name. 

After the veneer repairs were complete, the second, equally formidable challenge was rebinding the manuscript.  Once the text block was resewn, it was determined that any adhesive applied to the spine would cause more stress and continued breakage.  With help from colleagues at other institutions, a non-adhesive spine lining and rebacking technique was developed that promoted gentle movement and prevented further breakages.  

Every step of this project required collaboration with colleagues in and outside of NEDCC.  There were failures, setbacks, and other frustrations that could not have been overcome without a host of conservators and scholars coming to my aid. In this presentation, I will discuss the new approaches in methodology that I developed as the treatment progressed, but I will also reflect on the collaborative efforts that lead to its successful outcomes.