{"id":5536,"date":"2025-09-15T16:03:39","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T20:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/?p=5536"},"modified":"2026-02-03T17:40:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T22:40:29","slug":"a-timeless-tale-how-inscriptions-tell-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/2025\/09\/a-timeless-tale-how-inscriptions-tell-stories","title":{"rendered":"A Timeless Tale \u2013 How Inscriptions Tell Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s amazing the different ways books can tell us stories. There\u2019s the obvious: the words that are written on the page and create the story the author wanted to tell. But there\u2019s also what lies beneath the surface — the wear and tear of the book, how it was bound, what materials were used to make it. There\u2019s the outright story a book was meant to share, but there are also context clues, and deeper ways we can dive into the history of a book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, a book just outrightly tells its story through notes left by previous owners. A handwritten message about where it was bought, a book plate of whose library it came from, or an inscription with notable information about damage to the tome are all ways prior owners can document what the book has been through. This latter suggestion is the case for a two-volume set of Cajus Julius Caesar by Georg Brandes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Pictured: volumes I and II of Cajus Julius Caesar.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These books were published in 1925 by the Erich Reiss Verlag publishing house. On the fly leaf of both of these volumes is a handwritten inscription which reads \u201cThe water stains in this volume are due to air raid damage. London, 1941.\u201d In graphite. What a big journey for two books, from Berlin, Germany, to London, England, and then to Cincinnati, Ohio!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Pictured: inscription in Julius Caesar Volume I.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Inside
Pictured: inscriptions in Julius Caesar Vol. I and II<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Two
Pictured above: signs of water damage on the book.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The water damage to the books is there but it isn\u2019t too drastic. There is some obvious staining and cockling to the pages, as well as some warping of the covers. These books were treated with v hinges on the front and back fly leaves to prevent further separation of the cover from the text block and were also put in Colibri covers to help keep them protected on the shelves and during use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"One
Pictured: both volumes of Julius Caeser being treated with v hinges.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These books needed minimal treatment, and then will return to their home at the Classics library. With some care from the preservation lab, these two volumes can continue to tell their story for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicole Browning — Conservation Technician<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s amazing the different ways books can tell us stories. There\u2019s the obvious: the words that are written on the page and create the story the author wanted to tell. But there\u2019s also what lies beneath the surface — the wear and tear of the book, how it was bound, what materials were used to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,677],"tags":[383,715,811],"class_list":["post-5536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book","category-collection_care","category-treatment","tag-materiality","tag-nicole-browning","tag-water-damage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5536","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=5536"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5582,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5536\/revisions\/5582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}