Italy has more than its fair share of natural disasters. Besides building new places to house these valuable collections in some other part of the city there's nothing they can do. Since the 12th Century Florence has suffered a major flood every 25 years or so and a devastating one, once per Century. The Romans were not renowned for their forestry conservation and they denuded the countryside of all timber. As a result the Arno has silted to a depth of 12 metres since those times and the flooding will go on. It may seem ridiculous to us that, with all this foreknowledge, parts of the most valuable collections in the world were kept in basements well below the flood line. In libraries everywhere there is always the problem of space for stacks and because it was at an absolute premium in the BNCF they did this very stupid thing. Its simply a matter of money. And this materialised in uncommon amounts, from rescue committees all over the world, when it was needed to save the books.
The technology is simple. Wipe the damaged material with a sponge to remove as much mud and muck as you can, then sprinkle with sawdust to absorb moisture. Dry in a warm place. In Florence they used tobacco kilns and grain drying barns. The next step is to remove as much dried mud as possible and then wash the book, or sheets, or whatever, in warm water. Several changes were used and then they were finally dried. I don't know how this was done for books, but they may have interleaved the wet book in some way. But its obvious that for single sheets like photographs and drawings this should be done flat between layers of water absorbent material. By the way the Library of Congress thinks there are 75 million books in the last stages of embrittlement in the world's libraries. Modern paper is just not made to last. Its full of all kinds of fillers, alum rosin sizes, chemically active bleaching agents and so on. Its also made of wood fibre and not long-fibred rag. Modern paper is quite acid and after some time it yellows, becomes brittle and falls to pieces. Williams J. Barrow produced a durable paper with a calcium buffer that may last for at least 400 years, but no one seems interested. Don Don Williams ___________ Dr E D F Williams http://personal.inet.fi/cool/don.williams Author's Web Site and Photo Gallery Updated: March 30, 2002 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Shaun Canning" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2003 1:23 PM Subject: Re: Floods, WAS: OT: Manfrotto tripod mini-report > Yes Don, that's wonderful, and your point is not lost on conservation > people like me. Of course technology can be of significant help. But it > probably helps more if we take major steps to ensure that significant or > irreplaceable items of local or international cultural value are > protected from such mundane threats as floods or mud's. > > Cheers > > Shaun > > Dr E D F Williams wrote: > > In 1966 Florence was hit by the devastating 'Arno' flood. Ancient books in > > 30 libraries suffered terrible damage. Centuries old books were soaked and > > covered with silt and mud. The sight of the shelves in the Biblioteca > > Nazionale Centrale di Firenze was heart breaking. No one would have believed > > anything could be saved. > > However, hundreds of students and volunteers were enlisted and many books > > were removed from the shelves and dried. Others just dried in the stacks. > > Velum bound volumes, paper and parchment documents that looked like they > > were ready to be carted to the dump were later restored by washing in warm > > water and by other very simple methods. In many cases there was more dried > > mud than paper. > > > > Photographs and books or manuscripts, never mind how wet and crumpled they > > may be, if dried immediately before they begin to decay, can later be > > cleaned and restored. This later cleaning is quite easy. Books damaged in > > the Arno flood were examined by scanning electron microscopy after > > restoration. The micrographs showed traces of mud invisible to the naked > > eye. I have pictures of the stacks and damage. If anyone is interested > > please contact me off list. > > > > Don > > > > Don Williams > > ___________ > > > > Dr E D F Williams > > http://personal.inet.fi/cool/don.williams > > Author's Web Site and Photo Gallery > > Updated: March 30, 2002 > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Mike Johnston" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Sent: Wednesday, January 08, 2003 10:50 PM > > Subject: Floods, WAS: OT: Manfrotto tripod mini-report > > > > > > > >>>That night I kept having nightmares about having to wade through > >>>floodwater downstairs! First light i looked out and breathed a sigh of > >>>relief to see no appreciable rise. The stake confirmed it. > >> > >> > >>My mother's house in Cambridge (MA) flooded so badly a couple of years ago > >>that it came within a foot of the first-floor joists. He washing machine > > > > was > > > >>_floating_ and bumping against the basement ceiling! > >> > >>They lost a lot of "stuff," including some family heirlooms and old > >>photographs. > >> > >>Heat is the weather phenomenon most dangerous to humans, statistically, > > > > but > > > >>I'll bet flooding is the chief danger to the survival of historical > >>artifacts on paper, such as photographs. > >> > >>--Mike > >> > > > > > > > > . > > > > > -- > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > Shaun Canning > Cultural Heritage Services > High Street, Broadford, > Victoria, 3658. > > www.heritageservices.com.au/ > > Phone: 0414-967644 > e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > >
