{"id":4108,"date":"2022-12-22T10:11:32","date_gmt":"2022-12-22T15:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/?p=4108"},"modified":"2022-12-22T10:11:32","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T15:11:32","slug":"hidden-treasures-in-a-1791-english-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/2022\/12\/hidden-treasures-in-a-1791-english-bible","title":{"rendered":"Hidden Treasures in a 1791 English Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The lab received a heavy bible in exceptionally bad condition. The spine was almost nonexistent, with the leather fragments that were hanging on \u201cby a thread.\u201d 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!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Hidden
Bible as received<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Hidden
Hidden treasures discovered<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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, \u201cAnd the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations,\u201d Revelation 22:2. When I saw the added plant specimens near this passage, my mind immediately went there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Hidden
Before preservation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Hidden
After rehousing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Hidden
After rehousing, book is wrapped in foam with cloth ties<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Voynovich [CHPL] \u2013 Senior Conservation Assistant<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography by Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The lab received a heavy bible in exceptionally bad condition. The spine was almost nonexistent, with the leather fragments that were hanging on \u201cby a thread.\u201d 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4],"tags":[619,617,618,57,614,616,615,560,613,612],"class_list":["post-4108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book","category-collection_care","category-enclosures","tag-619","tag-18th-century","tag-bible","tag-chris-voynovich","tag-dried-plant","tag-fern","tag-leaves","tag-long-term-storage-2","tag-plant-fragments","tag-plant-specimens"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4108"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4175,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4108\/revisions\/4175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}