Aesop's Fables

In the 19^th century steam-powered presses mass-produced classical texts printed on inexpensive paper in small sized books to fit in shirt pockets or belt pouches for the consumption of an increasingly literate public. The railroad and steamboat aided their distribution. The small sized texts could also be conveniently perused by itinerant scholars and easily carried by traveling salesmen and studied by schoolchildren. Smaller and more convenient book sizes in the 1800s sometimes aimed at counteracting and combating a waning emphasis on Greek and Latin in schools in Europe and the U.S. during this time, a “movement” eventually leading to such pocket sized books.

Condition and treatment: Aesop’s Fables is a booklet that appears to have been stored between bound covers but is now separated and held together with pressure sensitive tape. The pamphlet has discolored from blue to light brown and the pressure sensitive tape has aged to a dark brown and has stained the paper below. Conservation staff will remove the tape and reduce the staining as possible, as well as repair the detached pages of the pamphlet. The binding will be housed in a clear protective jacket.