History of preventive conservation

Simon Lambert <simonlambert9 [at] hotmail__com> writes

>I am working on a paper about the history of preventive conservation
>as part of a degree in art conservation. I am interested in getting
>members' impressions and opinions about the early years of
>preventive conservation, what they think triggered this change in
>attitude towards conservation and when it occurred. ...

Whilst it would not fit in the scope of "preventive", the earliest
information I have of supplying paper for conservation (then known
as "repairs")  was a buff paper specially made at Hayle Mill in 1856
for the Record Office (now the National Archives) via the Stationery
Office. We have all the production details and a sample given to me
by the PRO in rather good condition  despite being made of a mixture
of very poor rags, coloured with various  materials including
ferrous salts. It would be interesting to know of any papers made
earlier especially for the purpose.  Presumably non-custom made
papers  used for repairs go back many centuries.  I have a newspaper
from 1812  which has been patched before being printed.

Simon Green


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:41
                 Distributed: Monday, February 4, 2008
                       Message Id: cdl-21-41-006
                                  ***