Dear Lacemakers, I'm taking heart from the acceptance of the discussion of photography to resend this question to Lace. Although I sent it to Lace-Chat last Summer, it didn't get any replies, and I'm still concerned about the topic. (Maybe it was holiday time, or the knowledgable people don't subscribe there . . ..)
"Recently I've bought some older books - late nineteenth-century lace and needlework texts - and I would like advice about how to look after them during use and storage. Especially - I've a dim memory of being told that older books shouldn't be kept near younger books, as the younger books gave off something that would attack the paper of the older books. As my informer was a lady who assists in caring for the libraries at some of the Oxford Colleges, I think she probably knows what she is talking about. Unfortunately, our paths haven't crossed for many years, so I can't ask for more information. Although my books aren't particularly valuable, they have great charm for me, and I'd like to do my best for them. A particular problem is a textbook for pupil-teachers, "Needlework and Cutting Out", (which still has written and marked exercises in the back). Various things have been between the pages for the last hundred years, including bits of fabric, paper patterns made from shop flyers and old newspaper, (including a report of the progress of the Boer War), and what I think must be a piece from a Valentine's Day card. Inevitably, some of these have stained the paper, and I would like to preserve this treasure, (which I found being kicked about on the floor of the back room of a little secondhand bookshop!), yet without further damage." Since I wrote that, I've seen an advertisement for acid-free plastic pockets for storing documents. While these sound a little unlikely to me - both the acid-free part and that storing paper in plastic might be a good thing to do - I'm open to being educated on the subject. All suggestions will be received with gratitude! Yours sincerely, Linda Walton, (in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, U.K.). - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
