Project: Treatment of photo albums
Owner: Chalmers Library, Kenyon College
About the Project
The Director of Special Collections and Archives at Kenyon College selected a group of objects to apply for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Conservation Grant, supported by the State Library of Ohio in partnership with the Ohio Preservation Council (OPC) and the America250-Ohio Commission.
Ten items were selected for me to examine and assess, from which I identified five items for the 2025–26 grant cycle and five more for 2026–27. The group consists of one binding and nine photo albums from the 19th and 20th centuries, all related to Kenyon alumni. Treatments ranged from tape removal and tear mending on endleaves and facing papers to rebacking with board reattachment, local spot-sewing, and full resewing.
Title: Matriculation Book
Dimensions: H 33.0cm x W 21.0cm x T 3.5cm
Treatment Notes: This full leather binding, with a previous leather reback and marbled paper endleaves, was intact overall, though two sections were loose due to broken sewing threads.
The centerfolds of the innermost folio in the two loose sections were reinforced, then spot-sewn back in place with 18/3 linen thread and a curved needle, looping around the existing sewing supports. Since the binding had a hollow spine, the thread ends were knotted at the spine.
Title: J. S. Harter Photo Album
Dimensions: H 15.5cm x W 12.0 x T 2.5cm
Treatment Notes: This carte-de-visite album has a textured dark brown cloth cover with one fore-edge clasp; thick, stiff leaves are hinged with textile tape and attached via spine adhesive and lining. The case was fully detached, the moiré flyleaves and first leaf were loose, and the facing papers were grimy with numerous tears.
Individual leaves were surface cleaned, and the loose flyleaves were reattached with Uso Mino Thin and wheat starch paste (WSP). Tears in the facing papers were mended with Tengujo and WSP. The inner spine of the cloth case was cleaned and relined with acrylic-toned Okawara. The textblock spine was also cleaned and lined with Uso Mino, and attached with a flanged piece of Okawara and the original stuck-on endbands. The flanges were inserted beneath the pastedowns of the case. The inner hinges were reinforced with two layers of Uso Mino Thin.
Title: C. H. Wetmore Photo Album
Dimensions: H 16.0cm x W 13.5cm x T 5.5cm
Treatment Notes: This carte-de-visite album has thick wooden boards and one clasp, with thick, stiff leaves hinged to the board stubs via brown textile tapes. The original covering was missing, exposing the wooden boards, which were held together by later-added red textile tape on the spine. The front moiré flyleaf was taped down, while the back flyleaf was loose. The textblock leaves were intact, but the facing papers were significantly brittle, with numerous tears and broken pieces. At the librarian’s request, the wooden boards were left exposed, as they show the construction of the binding and offer useful information for users.
The red and black tapes were mechanically removed from the spine and endleaves, and the residue areas were covered with Tengujo (5gsm) and wheat starch paste (WSP). Tears on the endleaves were mended and losses filled, while tears on the facing papers were mended with acrylic-toned Uso Mino and lifting areas reattached with WSP; desiccated blotters were used to dry the mends quickly and prevent tidelines. Split fabric hinges were reinforced with acrylic-toned Uso Mino and WSP. The spine was cleaned and consolidated by lining with Uso Mino and a flanged piece of muslin, then reattaching the original endbands. The case was reassembled by attaching the toned linen piece to the wooden boards with a mix of Lascaux 498HV and WSP (“the Mix”), matching the style of the earlier red tape repair. The textblock was reattached to the case by inserting and adhering the linen flanges beneath the pastedowns with the Mix.
Title: J. L. Browne Album
Dimensions: H 14.5cm x W 22.0cm x T 6.0cm
Treatment Notes: This carte-de-visite album has a full leather embossed cover with two fore-edge clasps, and thick, stiff leaves each holding two photos per side. The covers were fully detached but held together with black tape, and all textblock leaves were separated and out of order, though in good condition. It was decided not to rebind the textblock leaves, as doing so risked further damage and would require significant intervention to the binding; since the individual leaves were in solid condition, we agreed that they would remain safe with careful handling and proper housing.
The black tape was mechanically removed from the spine, and adhesive residue was reduced with a 4% Klucel-G in ethanol poultice. Tengujo was attached over the tape residue on the pastedowns with wheat starch paste (WSP). Each leaf was surface cleaned, and tears in the facing papers were mended with remoistenable Tengujo. A four-flap wrapper of 10pt. cardstock was made to secure the entire textblock. The edges of the leather cover and pastedowns were lifted, and acrylic-toned muslin was attached beneath the lifted leather, joining the front and back covers. Acrylic-toned paper was attached beneath the lifted pastedowns across the interior of the spine, and the original leather spine was reattached on the exterior.
Title: D. D. Benedict Album
Dimensions: H 22.0cm x W 16.0cm x T 2.0cm
Treatment Notes:
This photo album is a full leather binding with sewn sections, holding tintypes between laminated textblock leaves with a window cut for each image. The textblock was originally sewn all-along with linen thread on three recessed cord sewing supports. The binding had black tape on the spine, and several sections had fallen out due to loose sewing; a few photos were also loosening due to failing adhesive in the paper lamination.
The black tape was mechanically removed from the spine, and adhesive residue was reduced with a 4% Klucel-G in ethanol poultice. The leather spine was removed from the textblock, and the textblock was disbound, with the collation recorded as sections were separated. Out-of-order sections were returned to their correct positions using the graphite folio numbers at the upper right corners. Loose photos were secured by reattaching the detached paper lamination. Damaged centerfolds were mended and reinforced with Uso Mino Thin and wheat starch paste (WSP), and the textblock was resewn all-along on three cords with 25/3 linen thread. The spine was rounded and lined with Uso Mino and WSP. Two layers of Okawara were attached to the spine, each extending onto only one board beneath the lifted leather, and acrylic-toned Okawara was inserted beneath the lifted leather as the new spine piece. The inner hinges were reinforced with Uso Mino and WSP.
