Fire-damaged manuscripts

Anne-Grethe Slettemoen <anne [at] slettemoen__no> writes

>Does anyone have experience with treating fire-damaged manuscripts
>where the sheets have been fused together into blocks which, when
>tapped on, resemble hard blocks of wood?

I have worked on fire-damaged paper, and each project has required a
slightly different approach.

The conservation literature does not have much to say about this
issue, but it is important to forensic/questioned document
examiners.

Someone at your main police office may be able to recommend an
individual in your area who can give some advice.

A couple of useful articles were written by Donald Doud in Journal
of Criminal law and Criminology:

    "Charred Documents, Their Handling and Decipherment"
    Vol. 43, 1952-53, pp. 812-26.

    "Report on the Reconstruction of Two Time Payment Ledgers
    Damaged by Fire and Water"
    Vol. 50, 1959-60, pp. 291-95

See also

    J. Grant. "Deciphering Charred Documents: Some Recent Work and a
    New Method," The Analyst, Vol. 67, No. 791, February, 1942, pp.
    42-46.

Jack C. Thompson
Thompson Conservation Lab.
7549 N. Fenwick
Portland, Oregon  97217
503-735-3942  (voice/fax)


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 15:52
                Distributed: Thursday, January 24, 2002
                       Message Id: cdl-15-52-005
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