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#1
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Moldy book, is it worth trying to save?
I have a first edition hard cover of My Friend Flicka. It is the 19th
impression. But my grandmother gave it to me after letting it live under a leaky fish tank for noone knows how long. The cover is mildly warped, the pages are dry and rather brittle, and the cover and some pages have black mold on them. Plus, the binding is coming apart a bit. So, I know I could try to salvage it a bit so i can just have it to have it, so to speak. I don't think it will be, but if i sent it out for cleaning and repairs, would the increase in value make it worth the expense? btw, i don't have the jacket at all. |
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#2
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Moldy book, is it worth trying to save?
Teni wrote:
I have a first edition hard cover of My Friend Flicka. It is the 19th impression. But my grandmother gave it to me after letting it live under a leaky fish tank for noone knows how long. The cover is mildly warped, the pages are dry and rather brittle, and the cover and some pages have black mold on them. Plus, the binding is coming apart a bit. So, I know I could try to salvage it a bit so i can just have it to have it, so to speak. I don't think it will be, but if i sent it out for cleaning and repairs, would the increase in value make it worth the expense? btw, i don't have the jacket at all. A 19th printing is not worth sending out for repair. However, since it is not a valuable book, I would regard it as a good opportunity to learn how to cope with books in distress. The mould is the first order of priority. I have on occasion set a book on a table near a south or west facing window (both is best) upright with the pages fanned out and let the sun work on it for a number of weeks, changing the exposed pages every couple of days. This will both dry out any remaining dampness and also will kill some, if not all, of the mould. It also gets rid of the smell. How long should this go on? I have given books this treatment for two months at times. Do not spray the book with mould killer. Such a product is probably highly acidic and that can damage the pulp in the pages. The damage would not manifest itself immediately, but over time, by yellowing the pages. If you have a pH meter or litmus paper, you can check the pH of the product. The boards probably cannot be unwarped, but if you want to try, use a book press and leave the book in it for some months. As to the binding, there are a couple of book repair sites on the internet that will show you how to deal with various binding problems. As to materials for binding repairs, you want to have pH neutral adhesives and tapes. You can usually find them at an art supply store. One brand is Lineco. You can find the Lineco site on line and learn something about their products. -- Francis A. Miniter Oscuramente libros, laminas, llaves siguen mi suerte. Jorge Luis Borges, La Cifra Haiku, 6 |
#3
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Moldy book, is it worth trying to save?
On Mar 3, 11:48*pm, "Francis A. Miniter"
wrote: Teni wrote: I have a first edition hard cover of My Friend Flicka. It is the 19th impression. But my grandmother gave it to me after letting it live under a leaky fish tank for noone knows how long. The cover is mildly warped, the pages are dry and rather brittle, and the cover and some pages have black mold on them. Plus, the binding is coming apart a bit. So, I know I could try to salvage it a bit so i can just have it to have it, so to speak. I don't think it will be, but if i sent it out for cleaning and repairs, would the increase in value make it worth the expense? btw, i don't have the jacket at all. A 19th printing is not worth sending out for repair. However, since it is not a valuable book, I would regard it as a good opportunity to learn how to cope with books in distress. The mould is the first order of priority. *I have on occasion set a book on a table near a south or west facing window (both is best) upright with the pages fanned out and let the sun work on it for a number of weeks, changing the exposed pages every couple of days. *This will both dry out any remaining dampness and also will kill some, if not all, of the mould. *It also gets rid of the smell. *How long should this go on? *I have given books this treatment for two months at times. Do not spray the book with mould killer. *Such a product is probably highly acidic and that can damage the pulp in the pages. *The damage would not manifest itself immediately, but over time, by yellowing the pages. *If you have a pH meter or litmus paper, you can check the pH of the product. The boards probably cannot be unwarped, but if you want to try, use a book press and leave the book in it for some months. As to the binding, there are a couple of book repair sites on the internet that will show you how to deal with various binding problems. *As to materials for binding repairs, you want to have pH neutral adhesives and tapes. *You can usually find them at an art supply store. *One brand is Lineco. *You can find the Lineco site on line and learn something about their products. -- Francis A. Miniter Oscuramente libros, laminas, llaves siguen mi suerte. Jorge Luis Borges, La Cifra * Haiku, 6 Thank you for the detailed reply! I really appreciate it. I'm definitely going to try all that (if we ever get any sunny days...) Someday, one of these random old books i happen upon is actually gunna be worth money :-D LeeAnna |
#4
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Moldy book, is it worth trying to save?
Francis A. Miniter wrote:
The mould is the first order of priority. I have on occasion set a book on a table near a south or west facing window (both is best) upright with the pages fanned out and let the sun work on it for a number of weeks, changing the exposed pages every couple of days. This will both dry out any remaining dampness and also will kill some, if not all, of the mould. It also gets rid of the smell. How long should this go on? I have given books this treatment for two months at times. But as the object of the exercise presumably is to kill *all* the mold, not just that part that is visible, how do you verify that you have indeed succeeded? If you don't, you're just adding a probably mold-carrier to your other books. The traditional treatment is with Thymol and a heat lamp in an air-tight box, but otherwise much the same: fan out leaves, let the Thymol gas work on the book. But even then, some kind of verification seems to be required before the book is allowed to be returned to the shelves. -- Anders Thulin anders*thulin.name http://www.anders.thulin.name/ |
#5
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Moldy book, is it worth trying to save?
Anders Thulin wrote:
Francis A. Miniter wrote: The mould is the first order of priority. I have on occasion set a book on a table near a south or west facing window (both is best) upright with the pages fanned out and let the sun work on it for a number of weeks, changing the exposed pages every couple of days. This will both dry out any remaining dampness and also will kill some, if not all, of the mould. It also gets rid of the smell. How long should this go on? I have given books this treatment for two months at times. But as the object of the exercise presumably is to kill *all* the mold, not just that part that is visible, how do you verify that you have indeed succeeded? If you don't, you're just adding a probably mold-carrier to your other books. The traditional treatment is with Thymol and a heat lamp in an air-tight box, but otherwise much the same: fan out leaves, let the Thymol gas work on the book. But even then, some kind of verification seems to be required before the book is allowed to be returned to the shelves. Interesting. I was not aware of Thymol. As a result of your post, I did a little research which led me to this article in the Abbey Newsletter, a Stanford University publication devoted to preservation of various media: http://cool-palimpsest.stanford.edu/.../an21-308.html The researchers note that the use of Thymol does result in the degradation of the paper support, though they do not know the particular process. They recommend against its use. As an alternative, they recommend exposure to sunlight, as I had noted. -- Francis A. Miniter Oscuramente libros, laminas, llaves siguen mi suerte. Jorge Luis Borges, La Cifra Haiku, 6 |
#6
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Moldy book, is it worth trying to save?
Francis A. Miniter wrote:
The researchers note that the use of Thymol does result in the degradation of the paper support, though they do not know the particular process. They recommend against its use. As an alternative, they recommend exposure to sunlight, as I had noted. Thanks for the info, and the reference -- the Thymol process was described in one of Arthur Johnson's books on book restoration, and it stuck in my mind, mainly because it Thymol was (and probably still is) an ingredient I could actually buy over the counter. I would like to have seen some further experiments to rule out any effects the PVC and polypropylene might have had, even with the only slight heating present. And there are a bit too many 'appears to' -- one of the most important are in the abstract which says only that 'thymol appeared to have a deleterious effect on the paper support, on gum arabic, and on iron gall ink', which is a rather weaker statement that that it actually had such effect. Sunlight is an antibiotic -- ultraviolet light has that effect. It also breaks down cellulose bonds, and so increases paper degradation. Thus, I can hardly believe that either the author of the paper or you recommend it without precaution. Through a piece of glass much of the UV light is removed, and so again the question of actual mechanism is raised: is it the exposure to sunlight that does the job, or simply that the book is aired and dried out, causing mold to deactivate, and that a night-time operation with gentle heat applied would have the same effect? I think I asked this once, several years ago, but I don't remember an answer. Perhaps you know? -- Anders Thulin anders*thulin.name http://www.anders.thulin.name/ |
#7
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Moldy book, is it worth trying to save?
Anders Thulin wrote:
Francis A. Miniter wrote: The researchers note that the use of Thymol does result in the degradation of the paper support, though they do not know the particular process. They recommend against its use. As an alternative, they recommend exposure to sunlight, as I had noted. Thanks for the info, and the reference -- the Thymol process was described in one of Arthur Johnson's books on book restoration, and it stuck in my mind, mainly because it Thymol was (and probably still is) an ingredient I could actually buy over the counter. I would like to have seen some further experiments to rule out any effects the PVC and polypropylene might have had, even with the only slight heating present. And there are a bit too many 'appears to' -- one of the most important are in the abstract which says only that 'thymol appeared to have a deleterious effect on the paper support, on gum arabic, and on iron gall ink', which is a rather weaker statement that that it actually had such effect. Sunlight is an antibiotic -- ultraviolet light has that effect. It also breaks down cellulose bonds, and so increases paper degradation. Thus, I can hardly believe that either the author of the paper or you recommend it without precaution. Through a piece of glass much of the UV light is removed, and so again the question of actual mechanism is raised: is it the exposure to sunlight that does the job, or simply that the book is aired and dried out, causing mold to deactivate, and that a night-time operation with gentle heat applied would have the same effect? I think I asked this once, several years ago, but I don't remember an answer. Perhaps you know? As I read the article I thought that a comparative experiment would be good, Thymol effects vs. solar effects. In my house I have tinted glass that reduces UV light. The sunning process seems to kill the mold effectively - given enough time. As to the mechanism, I have generally thought that direct heat was an important factor, taking temperatures beyond the viability zone for mould. But I have wondered if there is more to it. -- Francis A. Miniter Oscuramente libros, laminas, llaves siguen mi suerte. Jorge Luis Borges, La Cifra Haiku, 6 |
#8
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Moldy book, is it worth trying to save?
On Mar 3, 9:48*pm, "Francis A. Miniter" wrote:
Teni wrote: I have a first edition hard cover of My Friend Flicka. ... The cover is mildly warped, the pages are dry and rather brittle, ,,snip As to the binding, there are a couple of book repair sites on the internet that will show you how to deal with various binding problems. *As to materials for binding repairs, you want to have pH neutral adhesives and tapes. *You can usually find them at an art supply store. *One brand is Lineco. *You can find the Lineco site on line and learn something about their products. I tried my local art supply store looking for archival tape and hinges to mount a drawing with sentimental value. [Not enough sentiment for me to have it framed by my preservation/restoration expert framer, but enough that I was at least going to use archival materials.] I asked for archival mounting materials and was shown the selection in a display. What I found was that they used "museum quality" materials for the framing done in the back, but none of the tapes or hinges they sold were archival. When I questioned this, they happily showed me the archival materials they used and offered to do the framing. But, they refused to sell me the archival materials. After I complained that if I did the framing myself they were selling materials that would ruin my artwork and that I felt this was a corporate strategy to sell framing services, the manager gave me a partial tape roll and some hinges from the back workroom. I offered to buy a whole roll and a full pack and was told that they are not in the system and they cannot sell them. This was a big art supplies chain. I'm not giving the name because this was a few years ago and there is a slight chance that they have improved. The important thing is to read the packages carefully to make sure the materials really are archival - the salespeople may be clueless. In my case, I believe they were poorly trained, not dishonest or trained wrong. |
#9
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Moldy book, is it worth trying to save?
On Apr 18, 2:38*am, wrote:
(snip) This was a big art supplies chain. *I'm not giving the name because this was a few years ago and there is a slight chance that they have improved. The important thing is to read the packages carefully to make sure the materials really are archival - the salespeople may be clueless. In my case, I believe they were poorly trained, not dishonest or trained wrong. .....or even more likely, they were an independent business renting space from the store. Kris |
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