We’re excited to announce that the Madisonville branch is in its final stages to re-open their newly renovated space! Please join the library for the opening eventMarch 18th! At the event, the Genealogy and Local History Department staff member, Chris Smith will talk about Madisonville’s history from 3:30 pm – 4 pm.
During the event, the Madisonville scrapbook will be on view for festivities March 18th.
Because this material is HUGE and considered a rare irreplaceable item, both the book and cradle were hand delivered from one building to another by Preservation Lab and Madisonville staff. Below are “behind the scenes” images showing the delivery of these oversized materials.
View of book in its prior home location, recently cleared of books:
Scrapbook & cradle in room empty of booksCradle in prior locationScrapbook coverB
For transport, the oversized book was stored in a lightweight (but strong!) custom enclosure:
Two flaps of foam were first sandwiched under a flap of boardChris Voynovich closes all flapsFlaps were secured with integrated cloth ties
The custom enclosure consists of multiple light-weight layers and flaps of foam, all tied together with cotton ties, as shown in Chris’ schematic. This enclosure will be used both for transport and for long-term storage.
Once packaged, both the book and cradle were hand delivered to their new home next door:
Cradle hand delivered next door by Terry Barnum and Chris VoynovichBottom view of cradleBook strapped to dollyBook is oriented spine edge down for safe transport
The book now awaits the re-opening event while staff continue unpacking the rest of collections!
Boxes being unpacked in new spaceChildren’s area is coming together!
We hope to see you there!
Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer [CHPL] – Rare book and paper conservator
To read about the conservation of the scrapbook and construction of the book’s cradle, please see the treatment documentation and a prior blog article titled, Madisonville Scrapbook.
As a bonus, to celebrate the completion of the oversized treatment, Chris created a comic you can fold from an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. Check out the printable file below! Instructions on how to fold can be found on the Preservation Lab’s YouTube channel video titled Preserving Scrapbooks beginning at the 10:42 time stamp.
While working on a treatment for the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, I came across a pamphlet that was especially dirty that gave me pause. This item in particular belonged to a collection of almanacs from the 1800’s.
The pamphlet, part of a collection selected for digitization, first came to the lab in need of cleaning and stabilization for its upcoming photo-shoot. The small pamphlets, titled Jayne’s Medical Almanack, would have been heavily used, warranting some of the grime. However, on this one, I noticed an inordinate amount of insect frass staining on many of the pages.
Insect frass along edges
As I continued surface cleaning and repairing major tears … I came across a damaged and dogeared page.
Creased fold hiding the culprit
Inserting my micro-spatula, I opened to the fold to reveal the culprit!
Evidence of prior insect infestation
An ancient, dry bug!
He had obviously used this journal as his residence – coming and going – and finally gave up the ghost. I will surely provide his final resting place… my trash can.
Before treatment
After cleaning and stabilization
To learn more about almanacs and how they were stored, see Veronica’s post titled, Loopy, where she dives into the history of another popularly used almanac collection at CHPL!
The University of Cincinnati’s Archives and Rare Books Library owns a few cuneiform tablets that date around the 1st century BCE. Most are small enough to fit within the palm of your hand. However, the clay tablet in question measures 14 inches (W) by 14 inches (T) x 4.5 inches (D) and weighs roughly 40-50 lbs.
Assyrian cornerstone during surface cleaning
More accurately, it is thought to be an Assyrian cornerstone that dates between 860 and 824 BCE. It is described in the catalog record to be from the ruins of Calah (near Ninevah) on the Tigris River. It is likely the cornerstone of a temple or palace erected by Salmanser III, king of Assyria. The provenance of how the University acquired the tablet is uncertain.
A translation of the cuneiform writing reads, ““Salmaneser, the great king, the mighty king, king of the universe, king of Assyria, son of Asurnaserpal, the great king, the mighty king, the king of Assyria, son of Tukulbi-Ninib, king of the universe, king of Assyria, and indeed builder of the temple-tower of the city of Calah.”
Front, Raking Illumination with Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) by Jessica Ebert
Front, Normal Illumination by Jessica Ebert
Back, Raking Illumination by Jessica Ebert
Back, Normal Illumination by Jessica Ebert
After surface cleaning and digitizing the cornerstone, finding suitable storage for an Assyrian cornerstone tablet seemed like a straightforward task in the beginning. I thought, “Let’s get it off the floor, house it, and protect it from dust!” No problem, right?
But once we got the item back in the lab, the weight of the object combined with its fragility proved more of a challenge after Chris, Holly and I began thinking about how the object would be retrieved from storage and how it would be handled. Rather than being stored in specialty shelving (such as items might be in a museum), this item was a library item. We needed to fit the tablet amongst archival book shelving. We were also faced with the prospect of transporting the cornerstone up and down a flight of stairs from the secure rare book storage. There is no easy elevator access! And finally, once it was put in an enclosure, how would a librarian get it out to show researchers and students?
We decided on an industrial case with wheels that could be transported and stored anywhere. I knew I wanted a device with handles to pull the object in and out of the case, but immediately decided against the idea of ratchet straps. The threat of fracturing would be too great if the ratchet straps were over-tightened.
After careful thought (and the creation of mock up solutions!) the following custom design was created in five stages:
1. A waterproof, shock-proof rolling Nanuk 950 case (similar to a Pelican case) was purchased.
Nanuk case openNanuk case closedLabeled Nanuk case
2. The interior was customized with foam and supports.
3. The lid was fashioned with a Tyvek pillow screwed to the top with an interior Coroplast sheet.
Marking screw holesCoroplast screwed to lid inside pillowcaseSealing pillow filled with polyester
4. The cornerstone was wrapped around all sides in a foam sheet with four flaps.
Foam flaps secured with VelcroUnfolded flas
5. A cloth wrapper with custom handles was sewn to support the tablet during insertion into and retrieval from the case.
Sewing cloth wrapperDuring creation of handlesCompleted wrapper
In addition, life-size surrogate photographs were printed by Jessica Ebert and stored in a polyester sleeve within the case. These images may prove even more useful during exhibition or teaching than seeing the actual tablet as they were captured with raking light that beautifully highlights the cuneiform writing. They could even be used as an alternative to handling the heavy tablet.
To help guide future librarians on how to handle the cuneiform tablet in the future, handling instructions were provided, a handling video was created, and a QR code of the video was pasted onto the case. Check out the video below.
I was appreciative to have been able to hearken back to my object’s conservation experience working at the Musical Instrument Museum. My prior experience helped guide me to dust the tablet and store surface cleaning samples, however, this was a project that took me out of my library conservation comfort zone. The knowledge required to house such an object (and the amount of textile sewing used to create the cloth wrapper!) gave me even more appreciation for the work objects and textile conservators do to preserve our oversized and heavy materials – especially when transporting and taking them on and off display!
Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer [CHPL] – Rare book and paper conservator
The lab received a heavy bible in exceptionally bad condition. The spine was almost nonexistent, with the leather fragments that were hanging on “by a thread.” There were many breaks in the sewing and the book block was in many pieces. The boards were also completely detached making it nearly impossible to handle. With pages that were water stained, the culmination of condition issues demonstrated how the bible had been around the block (a couple times!).
Bible as received
Hidden treasures discovered
While examining the book in preparation for constructing a housing solution, there within the pages I unexpectedly discovered plant specimens! There were quite a few different types. While impossible to know for sure, it seemed to me at one point these specimens were added to mark significant passages. For example, there is a passage in the Christian bible that reads, “And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations,” Revelation 22:2. When I saw the added plant specimens near this passage, my mind immediately went there.
Before preservation
After rehousing
It’s funny how things can trigger thoughts and emotions. With a religious item such as a bible, the dried plant fragments made me imagine how a reader might be moved spiritually to express something they felt deeply in the text in a material way. I was also inspired and glanced at passages beneath the plant specimens seeking out hidden connections. My quest sometimes proved rewarding while others I was left to ponder the hidden meaning.
After rehousing, book is wrapped in foam with cloth ties
The unique plant specimens were retained and stored in polyester sleeves in the same position on each page as they were discovered. Upon the completion of sleeving, I also consolidated and performed minor leather repair and care to prevent leather fragments from falling off. For long-term storage I created an archival blue corrugated clamshell and wrapped the fragile binding in a sheet of polyester foam.
Chris Voynovich [CHPL] – Senior Conservation Assistant
The Preservation Lab, a partnership to preserve and conserve the collections of the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library and the University of Cincinnati Libraries, seeks applicants for a Conservation Specialist position.
The Conservation Specialist is a technician level position with on-the-job training that may appeal to emerging conservation professionals. This position will join a collaborative team of 7 full-time staff members, including conservators, a preservation librarian, technicians, student workers and volunteers to preserve collections from both institutions. The Preservation Lab staff consists of both Cincinnati Public Library and the University Library members. This position is a Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library position but is stationed at the University of Cincinnati West campus.
The Public Library’s Main downtown branch will complete renovations to include a Story Center, with estimated completion fall of 2023. The Story Center will work closely with the special collections Genealogy department at the Public Library, Digital Services, and the Preservation Lab to collect, curate and preserve the experiences, histories and stories of communities, with a focus on communities of color and historically marginalized groups. Collaboration with members of Genealogy, Digital Services, and Story Center staff are an essential component of this position. The successful candidate will also demonstrate an interest in working directly with the public.
Founded in 1853, the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library today is one of the busiest and most highly acclaimed library systems in the United States, providing service to over 800,000 residents through a network of 40 branch libraries, a major downtown Main Library, and a Distribution Center. CHPL holds one of the largest genealogical collections in the United States and many other specialized collections, most of which are housed in the Main library.
Pay rate begins at $17.85/hour. The pay range is $37,128 – $51,979. The position will remain open until filled.
At the end of October we were lucky enough to have Jeff Peachey come to the Lab for a week-long workshop on Leather Conservation. We covered sewing extensions, joint tacketing, board splitting and cotton hinges, leather rebacks, and knife sharpening. In the weeks following the workshop we shared highlights from the workshop on our Instagram…
Leather rebacks, including board slitting, inserting a cloth hinge, lifting the original leather, dyeing the new leather, and paring and attaching the reback.
Finally, conservation ASMR…Jeff Peachey style! Make sure the sound is on for this one…
We had the best time with Jeff. He is such a knowledgable and approachable instructor, and we learned so much from him. Thanks for coming to the Preservation Lab, Jeff!
Our old copy stand setupOur new and improved, wall-mounted copy stand
Over the Spring, I began researching relatively affordable copy stand setup options with the goal of improving our outdated and slightly MacGyver’d existing setup while also increasing the size of objects that could be photographed with the new setup. Here’s a list of the equipment we ended up purchasing:
Once all of the column components arrived I set out to determine the maximum size object I could image with our current DSLR and our most used lens, in order to determine what size table I should get. Now, since I am not a math wizard, I did this the only way that made sense to my brain…I set the assembled column on against the wall, on the floor, with our camera mounted and used blue tape on the wall to create a grid of minimum and maximum size objects at various focal lengths…
This gave me pretty good idea of the general size I needed for a table. But I also wanted the table to have locking casters, sit at 27″ high (max), and have a shelf underneath for storage. Sadly, finding a table online that matched the size and other criteria was nearly impossible. Luckily for us, the UC Carpenters are the best and can make nearly anything you throw at them! And voila, after a couple months the UC Carpenters (a huge thanks to Tom!) had constructed a custom table and mounted the new copy stand column!
Today marked my first day using the new setup. I kicked things off by imaging a silk fabric piece from the Engineering library that would not fit on our old copy stand. Before our new setup, this would have meant shooting the delicate silk piece on the floor, using an inverted tripod. It’s a setup that I have used many times for oversized objects, and one that I strongly dislike for conservation photography, as it magnifies potential errors in handling. But luckily, I shouldn’t have to resort to the inverted tripod on the floor setup anytime soon!
John Robinson’s circus was a famous, traveling, family-owned circus’ that toured the United States for 69 years beginning in 1842. The family business stopped touring around 1910 and was officially sold in 1916. It was managed by four generations, all named John Robinson.
As a local tidbit to note, the circus was stationed during the winters near Cincinnati, OH, where the family owners kept Tillie, the beloved elephant. Tillie was said to roam the neighborhood of Terrace Park and was well known in the community and beyond. Many stories were written of heroic accounts and even her ability to “talk”. She was memorialized when she passed in 1932 and a marker can be found at Circus Place in Terrace Park today.
Elephants being forced to perform in John Robinson’s 10 Big Shows. Image from the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
Cincinnati and Hamilton County Photographic Album
A rare photographic album owned by the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library (CHPL) dates to the late 19th to early 20th century and contains albumen portraits of John Robinson’s circus performers. The images have been fully digitized after receiving treatment to improve legibility at the Preservation Lab. The CHPL Digital Library catalog describes the object as follows:
“Album of 266 photographs of varying sizes. Most are portraits of Robinson family members and of the circus staff and performers. Included are group portraits of the work crew, musicians, clowns, acrobats, novelty acts, and family acts, and circus animals. Many of the individual portraits are of side-show performers such as tattooed men, albinos, women with floor-length hair, dwarfs, etc. Some of these are studio shots that may have been sold or used as advertising. A small number have captions, and the few with dates are from 1901-1909.”
Inside of upper cover after treatment
Toned Images
While the content of the images is spellbinding, the album is also unique as many of the photographs appear to be once toned overall with pink, yellow, or orange colors.
An online reference from the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) Preprints in 1980 refers to historic albumen photographs that were dyed and are extremely light sensitive. In the article, James Reilly states, “A great deal of the paper sold during the 1880’s and 1890’s was “doubly albumenized”, i.e., floated twice to obtain maximum gloss. Another common practice was the addition of aniline dyes to the albumen solution. Tinted paper was mainly used for portraits, and the most popular tint appeared to be pink, but various shades of purple, blue and even green were also used. Because the dyes had such poor lightfastness–especially in such dilute solution–most of the dyed paper is difficult to recognize today.” It’s fun to imagine that these tinted papers might have been used to capture and celebrate the lives of circus performers in John Robinson’s 10 big shows.
Many of the colors in the photograph album have faded irregularly, with the pink being the most prominent color remaining. This colored photograph phenomenon does not appear to be widely documented elsewhere as the fugitive dyes were not light-fast. They may have also been susceptible to dark fading and chemical instability. Because these photos were preserved within pages in an album, it’s possible they’ve been protected from light and some of the more chemically stable images have not yet completely faded, allowing us a glimpse of this rare format.
While treatment cannot be performed to recolor the images, some photographs did receive conservation treatment to improve visual legibility. There were nearly 30 images that appeared to have a dark discoloration. These photographs were identified to be missing fragments of paper backings. As a result, the dark album pages behind the photographs were obscuring the visibility of the photographic emulsion layer. Some of the more badly damaged images were carefully lifted, relined and reattached. Others received general surface cleaning. A few examples of improved readability are below.
Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer (CHPL) – Special Collections Conservator
