Finishing Bateman Forwarding Like all professions, bookbinding has its own specialized vocabulary. What do you think bookbinders mean when they say they are “forwarding” a book? Are they pushing it in front of them? Are they sending to on to another recipient? Not likely. After a book is sewn together, it needs to be put…
Tag: book conservation
From the Library: Rebuilding the Bateman Book (Part 8)
Conservation work on the Peter H. Raven Library’s copy of The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala is almost complete! Follow along as we document this painstaking restoration of one of the largest and grandest volumes in the Garden’s rare book collection. The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala has been disbound, cleaned, mended, guarded and washed (at…
From the Library: Rebuilding the Bateman Book (Part 7)
Conservation work on the Peter H. Raven Library’s copy of The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala is underway! Follow along as we document this painstaking restoration of one of the largest and grandest volumes in the Garden’s rare book collection. As of March 2019, Bateman’s Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala had been surface cleaned, mended, filled…
From the Library: Rebuilding the Bateman Book (Part 6)
Conservation work on the Peter H. Raven Library’s copy of The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala is underway! Follow along as we document this painstaking restoration of one of the largest and grandest volumes in the Garden’s rare book collection. Putting Bateman Back Together Now that the leaves of Bateman’s Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala have been…
From the Library: Rebuilding the Bateman Book (Part 5)
Conservation work on the Peter H. Raven Library’s copy of The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala has begun! Follow along as we document this painstaking restoration of one of the largest and grandest volumes in the Garden’s rare book collection. What Is Alum? Alum is an aluminum salt that has been used for hundreds of years to process…
From the Library: Rebuilding the Bateman Book (Part 4)
Conservation work on the Peter H. Raven Library’s copy of The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala has begun! Follow along as we document this painstaking restoration of one of the largest and grandest volumes in the Garden’s rare book collection. The Peter H Raven Library’s copy of Bateman’s Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala was issued in several parts…
From the Library: Rebuilding the Bateman Book (Part 3)
Conservation work on the Peter H. Raven Library’s copy of The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala has begun! Follow along as we document this painstaking restoration of one of the largest and grandest volumes in the Garden’s rare book collection. The Pages of Books Can Tear and Chip Paper is generally a very stable substrate for printing…
From the Library: Rebuilding the Bateman Book (Part 2)
Conservation work on the Peter H. Raven Library’s copy of The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala has begun! Follow along as we document this painstaking restoration of one of the largest and grandest volumes in the Garden’s rare book collection. The Pages of Books Get Dirty Liquid spills, soiled hands, coal-burning furnaces, oil-burning lamps, drops to the…
From the Library: Rebuilding the Bateman Book (Part 1)
Conservation work on the Peter H. Raven Library’s copy of The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala has begun! Follow along as we document this painstaking restoration of one of the largest and grandest volumes in the Garden’s rare book collection. James Bateman, a wealthy English orchid collector, was responsible for the creation of The Orchidaceae…
From the Library: Bookbinding Curiosities—Paste Papers
The practice of decorating paper with pleasing patterns and colors began in China, where paper was invented. By the 10th century, Chinese craftspeople were probably practicing a rudimentary kind of paper marbling, a complex process that results in sheets covered with sinuous, organic, often colorful designs. This art traveled west along with paper making technology,…
From the Library: A Different Kind of Conservation
The Peter H Raven Library of the Missouri Botanical Garden contains many rare and unusual books, but they aren’t all in the Rare Book Room. Our General Collection also holds many rare, even unique items, such as this small volume (about 6.5” long) of pressed plants from the Holy Land. This book, Flowers of…
From the Library: Another Kind of Conservation
When you think of “conservation” and the Missouri Botanical Garden, you probably picture a botanist in the field working with endangered plants or a horticulturist restoring a landscape by seeding native flowers. But the term conservation can also have a slightly different but equally important meaning within scientific and cultural institutions—the care and repair of…