1799 diary

[Gizmo]

For about ten years I've had a nice little leather bound diary in my book collection. I bought it from an older woman who was cleaning out her home and found it in her attic. She wasn't even sure if it had belonged to her or was in the house when she moved in. The diary is dated 1799 and belonged to one Anne Pares. It apparently has her travels around Wales written in it (about a dozen or so pages).

I've stored the piece in a clear plastic bag (not airtight), away from sunlight and with my other books. I don't handle it much, but I wonder if there is anything else I should be doing to help keep this little fellow healthy. The writting inside is in black ink (which is turning a bit grayish brown in places). The pages are turning slightly yellow, but not that much. I guess if it survived in an attic for decades I can't do too much damage, right? Any thoughts?

[railman44]

I think I'd keep in an airtight bag (away from all moisture, insects and sunlight).

[hosman321]

Airtight bags aren't good because it promotes mold and mildew to grow, among other reasons. You're supposed to let paper "breathe." It's good you're not sealing 'er up all the way. I have lots of newspapers from the 1600's-present so I've read a lot about it. Archival storage boxes are great, and not very expensive. They are everywhere online, just make sure they safe "archival safe" and "acid-free."

[talesofthesevenseas]

Here is a YouTube video on antique book preservation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EXobFzUQkw

And an article on preserving leather bindings:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/tips/preservingbooks.html

This article gets into humidity and temperature and seems to be the most thorough of the three:
http://www.conservationregister.com/booksbibles.asp?id=4

[fancypants]

Good question(s) Gizmo .

I'd hazard a guess that the ink you mentioned is an old iron-based ink ; sometimes these inks can be heavily affected by moisture & salinity in the air (it 'rusts') and turn brownish .

Storage box is a good idea , if your storage area is not 'dark & damp' environment , I think .

It's a good idea to check real close for other 'issues' that can come along (as paper & leather ages ) , ones like fungus/'micro-life'/critters etc. , prior to stickin' your nice saved item in an archival box .

[Gizmo]

Thanks all! Those are some very helpful articles talesofthesevenseas! Thank you!

I had heard several times to either seal it airtight or let it breath, so it was good to have some clarification on that. I think I'll look into an archival storage box. I don't see any signs of mold or bugs, but it looks as if the paper near the leather cover is turning a slightly darker shade. Maybe because of a past leather treatment, or the glue used on it. Thanks again!

[KC]

If you have a local museum...I would go ask there for their advice.

You have a terrific piece of history there!

[Gizmo]

Thanks KC, that's good advice.

My master plan had been to research Anne Pares' travels and then set out on a vacation to retrace her footsteps. About a year after I had gotten the diary, I managed to decipher most of her hand writting and had done research on many of the places she visited (very hard due to odd spellings and places so small or archaic that I couldn't find more than a brief sentence on them).

To make a long story short, my computer crashed...big time. I hadn't made any hard copies of my research and I was too frustrated to start over again. I'm finally feeling up to the task again. It was hard work, but lots of fun too. This time I'll do some printouts and save the info on flashdrives too so there's not a repeat of the last fiasco.

[KC]

Sounds like a great adventure Gizmo!  Let us know how how you are doing!