Archive for the ‘Preservation’ Category

A day in the life of the bindery

When asked, I usually tell people I come to work to do craft every day. It’s true; I wear a glue smeared apron, cut paper with scalpel knives and play with glue. The week really starts on a Wednesday; that’s the day of the  trolley run around the various collection points in the library. Nellie, our new binder [...]

Reattaching the spine of a book, or rebacking

Ever had the spine of a book fall off into your hands? Would your first brilliant thought be: “I’d better glue this back on before it gets lost.”? The idea of keeping the spine intact and with the book is great; it’s the glueing part that is the problem. You see, in the majority of [...]

The Enemark project

Cultural collections are often made from materials that are chemically unstable and slowing the deterioration of these items is the ongoing challenge of those who care for them. One of these materials is cellulose nitrate, a material that was used for motion picture films and still photography until the 1950’s. As the cellulose nitrate degrades [...]

Practising paring, ploughing and paperwork.

I’ve been rather quietly lately about the goings-on in the bindery. I guess it’s all become routine, and I forget that from the outside Preservation might seem like a mysterious place. Practise makes perfect;  I suppose in any craft one looks to attain a degree of skill that makes the jobs seem effortless. Well, let [...]

On a bookbinding journey thanks to the Kenneth Binns Travelling Scholarship

The Kenneth Binns Travelling Fellowship is an internal Library grant awarded to a staff member in the first seven years of  their career. I was lucky enough to win the scholarship to further my training as a bookbinder and visit conservation laboratories in the United Kingdom. As recently as three months ago I  travelled to the London Rare Books [...]

My Print has Pimples!

Recently, the Pictures staff here at the National Library delivered 36 nature prints to Preservation Services for treatment. These beautiful examples of nature prints are from the renowned Bradbury and Evans printing house from London. Nature printing has been a popular printing method since the Middle Ages and has long been appreciated as a scientific [...]

Laboratorio de conservacion Nicolas Yapuguay Del Fondo Antiguo de la compana de Jesus

During my stay in Buenos Aires in March this year I visited the Fondo Antiguo de Jesus, on Callao Ave, in the centre of Buenos Aires, close to my apartment. I had walked past this Jesuit church and college many times, little realising what lay hidden behind its façade. The Fondo Antiguo is a Jesuit [...]

Bleaching Workshop

A bleaching workshop overview was presented on 20 June by Robin Tait(NLA) and Nick Zihrul from the Australian War Memorial. The workshop was held at the NLA Preservation Lab. The workshop was attended by 14 conservators and students from the National Gallery of Australia, Australian Maritime Museum, National Australian Museum, Art and Archival, National Film [...]

Lights! Pin! Infilling!

I’ve been a little quiet lately; it’s been the holidays, and with Robin now here there is a lot of learning going on. However I am a little excited over an item I just finished, that had been in my pile for a few months. Its cover was in bits, and the request had been [...]

Simplified binding in Eduardo Tarrico’s studio

I’m always keen on learning new techniques and meeting new people. So this trip to Buenos Aires (BsAs) fulfilled both of those needs. I obtained Eduardo Tarrico’s contact details through the BookArts Dist List. His only course for March was on simplified binding. Simplified binding is a method developed by Sun Evrard, and in its [...]