Table Of ContentConservation and
restoration of
archive materials
by Yash Pal Kathpalia
Unesco Paris 1973
Documentation, libraries and archives :s tudies and research 3
I
i
Titles in the series Unesco manuals for libraries:
I. Education for librarianshi$
I. Public library extension
3. Adult education actiuitiesf or public libraries
4. Libraries in adult andf undamental education: the report of the Malmö seminar
5. Deuelopment of public libraries in Latin America: the São Paulo conference
6. Development of public libraries in Africa: the Ibadan seminar
7. Public libraries for Asia: the Delhi seminar
8. The Delhi Public Library: an eualuation report
g. Public library services for children
IO. The small public library building
I I. National libraries, their problems and prospects: symposium on national
libraries in Europe
II. Thep rimary school library and its services
I 3. The organization of the small public library
14. University libraries for deueloping countries
1-5 . International distribution of catalogue cards: present situation and future
prospects
16. Methods of teaching librarianship
I 7. The planning of library and documentation services
Titles in this series :
I. Study and draft of a model archiues law
2. Public library legislation: a comparatiue study
3. Conservation and restoration of archive materials
Published in 1973 by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
7 Place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paris
Printed by Imprimeries Populaires de Genbve
ISBN 92-3-101073-5
0 Unesco 1973 Printed in Switzerland
Preface
The historical material held in archives forms part of the cultural
heritage of mankind, and the conservation of such holdings is of
vital importance. In I9 69,t herefore, Unesco concluded a contract
with the International Council on Archives for a manual on the
conservation and restoration of archive materials. This manual,
which accords particular attention to the specific problems
encountered in regions with unfavourable climatic conditions, has
been prepared by Yash Pal Kathpalia, M.Sc. (Chemist), Scientific
Officer at the National Archives of India, New Delhi, and is based
on his own research and experience.
The aim of the publication is to provide archivists and librarians
responsible for manuscript collections with a survey of the methods,
techniques and materials employed in the conservation and resto-
ration of archive materials.
The author of the present document is responsible for the choice of
facts presented and their interpretation;t he opinions expressed are
not necessarily those of Unesco or of the International Council on
Archives.
Contents
List of illustrations 9
Foreword II
Introduction i5
I. Constituent materials of documents 31
2. Deterioration-causes and control 48
3. Principles of repair 78
4. Cleaning, washing and flattening 86
5. Deacidification 104
6. Restoration 121
j. Special problems in the restoration of documents 141
8. Special problems concerning work rooms and
restoration materials 163
g. Aids to preservation I 82
I o. Preservation of microfilms and sound recordings 193
Apflendixes
I. Physical and chemical tests
2. Formulae and specifications for ink
3. Pastes
4. Leather dressings
5. Equipment for repair and binding
6. Norms of output
j. Some addresses
Bibliography
List of illustrations
Facing
Page
Mallet fumigation chamber (France)
(Formaldehyde fumigation) 56
Vacuum fumigation chamber
Thymol fumigation cabinet in use at the National
Archives, New Delhi
Cockroaches
Damage by cockroaches
White-ant worker
White-ant damage
Book-worm damage
Water-stained and fungus-damaged document
Washing on floating platforms in thermostatically
heated wash basins 88
Washing in a tray containing water. Sheets interleaved
with wet-strength resin-sized paper
Spot bleaching with hypochlorite
Drying oven with racks. Also, a view of trolley where drying
racks can be placed after taking them out of the drying
oven
Pettifoger for humidification of folded papers
Air cleaning units for cleaning documents with
compressed air
Pasting guard strip at the fold 128
Document after repair with solvent lamination
Hennecke process. Kaschiermaschine K42 for lamination
Facing
Page
Flat-bed hydraulic laminator
Stitching on tapes or leather strips
Gold tooling of bound volumes
Binding unit
Author imparting training in solvent lamination process
Masino-Impex laminator
Arbee laminator
Preparing sandwich of a document prior to lamination.
Barrow laminator
Drying of flood-damaged volumes in tobacco barns I 60
A view of flood-damaged volumes
Medium-sizer oom for equipment and machinery
Repair room-Florence State Archives
Records received for repair
Storage of properly bound and improperly bound volumes
Storage of document boxes on shelves
Foreword
The conservation of archive materials is a skilful art confined before
the development of modern processes to a small number of institu-
tions throughout the world, and utilizing methods dependent on
the ingenuity and dexterity of the restorer. Although the interven-
tion of science has led to a better understanding of the various
causes and problems of deterioration and to the formulation of
preventive measures, the use of orthodox methods and techniques
has continued and is in all probability likely to continue; the
processes used have withstood the test of time and proved their
usefulness. They comply with the essential principles of repair,
reversibility, for example, and may be easily adopted for preserva-
tion work in those developing countries which have opened or are
in the process of opening their own archive centres and whose
interest in the development of repair activities is hampered by lack
of funds, facilities and trained personnel.
There is no short cut in this art and there is no school which
exclusively provides training in the conservation and restoration of
archive materials. The few institutions which do impart training
confine their efforts to in-training for conditions and processes
suitable to their own needs. Such institutions have mechanized
their restoration units and are using modern preservation
techniques.
In 1968,t he Executive Secretary of the International Council
on Archives (ICA),M i Charles Kecskemeti, returning from the
inauguration in Malaysia of the South-EastA sian Regional Branch
of ICA (SARBICA), paused in New Delhi to visit the National
Archives. In his talks with me then, he suggested the need for a
manual on the conservation and restoration of archive materials.
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