Treatment of A Brief and General Account of the First Part of the Life of the Reverend Mr. George Whitefield

Treatment of A Brief and General Account of the First Part of the Life of the Reverend Mr. George Whitefield (1740) by George Whitefield was recently completed in the book conservation lab. The early example of American printing was in poor condition with deteriorated paper and holes punched along the spine of the textblock to accommodate an older style of preservation housing. To stabilize the book, it had to be resewn after washing, with all the holes repaired using a wet pulp infill technique.

A "Brief and General Account" in the pamphlet binding before treatment

Washing of the textblock during treatment

Detached sections of the textblock before treatment

Infilling of the punch holes with wet pulp on a suction table

The same section after treatment, with the punch holes infilled

Kimberly Kwan is the Ransom Center’s first post-graduate conservation fellow through a new fellowship program sponsored by Judy and Bill Bollinger. Kwan who holds a master of arts degree in conservation with a specialization in book and archive materials from Camberwell College of Arts in London, and a bachelor of arts degree in art history and book and media studies from the University of Toronto.