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Category: Conservation

Close-up view of two hands carefully at work on an aged, yellowing manuscript with handwriting

Conservation Treatment of a WWI Panoramic Photograph, Scenes from the Nelson W. Jordan family papers

Posted by: Samantha Schireson

Conservation Treatment of a WWI Panoramic Photograph, a guest post by Alisha Chipman, Senior Photograph Conservator in the Conservation Division at the Library of Congress. This panorama is part of the Nelson W. Jordan family papers held by the Manuscripts Division. Nelson W. Jordan (1842-1922) was born enslaved in Albermarle County, Virginia.

Kathryn Kenney tensioning a parchment manuscript fragment using clips and pins. Photo credit Cathie Magee .

Preserving Evidence of Use: The Conservation of a Teaching Collection of Medieval Manuscript Fragments

Posted by: Samantha Schireson

Prior to the rise of printing, medieval libraries were filled with handwritten, manuscript books and documents. Many of those items no longer exist in their original form; some were thrown away when their contents became outdated or no longer useful, others were discarded and replaced with printed books. But some were taken apart, and their covers and pages were repurposed. Some of these pages, which are called fragments, can be found in the collections of The Library of Congress. This post is about a project to conserve these fragments.

Close-up view of two hands carefully at work on an aged, yellowing manuscript with handwriting

Meet Librarian-in-Residence, Sarah Hesler!

Posted by: Samantha Schireson

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work for the Library of Congress? Each year the Library selects a group of promising early-career library professionals to gain meaningful experience in diverse library service areas such as Archives and Special Collections, Collection Preservation, and Reference and Instruction to name a few! Last year …

Close-up view of two hands carefully at work on an aged, yellowing manuscript with handwriting

Conserving the Bwana Devil Poster

Posted by: Samantha Schireson

This is a guest post authored by Conservation Technician, Anna Zastrow. The Bwana Devil movie poster is part of the Archibald Oboler Collection in the Motion, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. The poster was severely damaged, but due to the presence of early fluorescent colorant and the significance of the Bwana Devil, it was decided the …