Book Conservation at Sagamore Hill NHS

Before and After Conservation Treatment

NPS/Northeast Document Conservation Center

Conservation is an essential part of how the National Park Service cares for and preserves museum collections. The primary goal of museum object conservation is to preserve whatever still exists of the object as nearly as possible in an unchanging state. The National Park Service works with professional conservators who are highly trained and specialize in specific materials to stabilize museum collection objects and preserve them for future generations.

In Spring of 2022 Sagamore Hill National Historic Site sent 12 volumes of the Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln (1894) to the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) for conservation analysis and treatment. The books are original to Theodore Roosevelt and have his bookplate in the inside cover. Lincoln was a great hero of Theodore Roosevelt’s, which made these books well loved for the Roosevelt family. After 70 years of being on exhibit in the Library, their condition degraded due to agents of deterioration including age, handling, light, and changing humidity. The volumes were dirty, faded, worn, and unstable. Several of the books were missing portions of their spine coverings and had covers that had become detached from the spine. Sagamore Hill curatorial staff reached out to NEDCC to see what type of conservation was possible and the Friends of Sagamore Hill generously agreed to fund the project.

Interior image of Abraham Lincoln.

NPS/Northeast Document Conservation Center

Each book was carefully packed and delivered via courier to NEDCC’s conservation lab in Massachusetts. Fragments that had come off the spines of the books were also sent to NEDCC. Professional book conservators unpacked the books, photographed them, and developed a treatment proposal for each volume. Conservation is a delicate balance between preservation and complete restoration. The conservators and the Sagamore Hill curatorial team agreed that the goal was to stabilize the books but not make them look completely new since they are over 120 years old. Once the Sagamore Hill curatorial team approved the proposal, work began on the volumes.

Conservator working on book

NPS/Northeast Document Conservation Center

Ten volumes were determined to need individualized treatment. Here is an example of the extensive treatment performed on one of the volumes:

The volume was disbound retaining the original sewing. The head, tail, and foredge were surface cleaned. The binding was repaired by rebacking using airplane cotton and Japanese paper colored with acrylic pigment, and the original false bands, endbands and spine were reattached. The board corners were repaired with Japanese paper colored with acrylic pigment using polyvinyl acetate. Breaks and tears in the marbled paper pastedowns and flyleaves were inpainted with watercolors over a separation layer of methyl cellulose where necessary. Losses were filled with Japanese paper using wheat starch paste. The fill was toned with acrylic pigments and colored pencil. The leather was consolidated with a solution of Klucel G in ethanol.

After conservation treatment was complete, the books were photographed again to document changes. The conservators wrote a final treatment report recording exactly what was done to each volume which is saved in the object catalog files and object records in the park’s database. The books were returned to the Library at the Theodore Roosevelt Home for visitors to see and appreciate.

Thank you to the Friends of Sagamore Hill for funding and supporting this important project!

Books on exhibit in the Library at the Theodore Roosevelt Home after conservation treatment.

NPS