After eight weeks, our Conservation Trainee Helen has completed her placement with us, and left us her final thoughts on her experience…
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The time has flown and I have now reached the end of my placement at Dorset History Centre. This placement has been invaluable in my training as a Conservator and I have learnt so much in just 8 weeks! My first blog post detailed my work on repairing Victorian railway plans and my first case-bound book. Since then I have been able to work with a variety of different materials and documents and have been able to bind two more books!
My first focus after paper was parchment. Made out of animal skin, parchment needs a slightly different treatment compared to paper. Instead of wheat-starch paste the adhesive of choice is gelatin, which can be used hot or as a cold mousse. Though the adhesive is different, parchment can still be repaired with Japanese paper, which was the repair material chosen for this parchment, after it had been humidified and slightly stretched to remove the crumpled form it had been found in.
I have also had the opportunity to work with wax seals! I repaired these seals with beeswax and heated tools that allowed me to apply and shape the new infilled wax.
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After wax seals it was time to work on a volume! This volume had a completely detached spine and corners in need of some consolidation. A new spine had to be made with new parchment to allow it to be attached to the front and back boards. The original vellum could then be attached to the new spine. The corners were consolidated with wheat starch paste and new parchment.
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The History Centre also recently acquired some glass plate negatives of Thomas Hardy, which I was tasked with cleaning and rehousing. The plates could be cleaned with some very slightly damp cotton buds and the rehousing was made in the form of a sink mat.
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Over the course of my 8 weeks here I have also had the amazing experience of binding my own books for #bookbindingfridays! It has been so informative and enjoyable to bind my own books for the first time, and has given me a much deeper understanding of the mechanics of books, which will be extremely useful when I am faced with conserving books in the future.
Here are two of my finished books:
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Finally, the three railway plans I have been restoring over the 8 weeks are finished! All the tears have been repaired and one of the plans has been sewn back together. They have also all been rehoused, instead of being stored rolled they will be stored in flat folders. Having a longer-term project over the course of my placement has given me lots of practice in organising my time and work space and it’s really satisfying to see the completion of two months’ worth of work!
I’ve had such a wonderful time here at the History Centre, everyone has been so welcoming and accommodating. I couldn’t have asked for a better placement or mentor!