Faded ink and deacidification

Judith Murphy <jamurphy [at] unm__edu> writes

>I have a Mexican colonial document from 1778. The ink is fading in
>various places (several different inks are used in the document).I
>was wondering if it would be safe to deacidify the document or if it
>will contribute to the ink fading more. If it is not safe to
>deacidify, would encapsulation still be the recommended option?

We at Preservation Technologies would like to suggest the use of our
deacidification spray (Bookkeeper), available from major archival
supply houses. The effect of this material on a large number of inks
has been evaluated by experts in the United States and Europe and
was found to cause no changes. The most recent evaluation was done
by The Library of Congress and a summary report may be obtained from
the Conservation OnLine (http://palimpsest.stanford.edu). We also
believe that it is not safe to encapsulate without deacidifying
first.

John Leiner
Preservation Technologies, Inc.

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 9:60
                   Distributed: Monday, March 4, 1996
                        Message Id: cdl-9-60-032
                                  ***