Paper degradation and climate

Liz Branigan <elizabeth.branigan [at] durham__ac__uk> writes

>I am looking for articles/evidence of, or people involved in
>researching paper degradation due specifically to different climates
>around the world. The type of paper I'm particularly interested in is
>17th century rag paper. I would be grateful for any help.

I first became interested in paper permanence when studying my Paper
Science degree at the University of Manchester in the 1960s.  Our
Senior Lecture Dr F. Lyth Hudson gave several lectures on the
subject.  His interest had been sparked by research he had done into
the effects of temperature and sulphur dioxide. He had made
comparisons between books left by the Scott Expedition at their hut
in the antarctic and copies of the same editions in Manchester and
possibly other cities.

The Scott books were in perfect condition whilst those from the city
were badly deteriorated.  His conclusion was that the Scott books
had not been exposed to sulphur dioxide (and other pollutants) and
were stored at very low temperatures and humidities.  He was
continuing research in the laboratories on exposure to sulphur
dioxide but this was not conclusive by the time I graduated. To what
extent this was written up I do not know but you could contact the
Paper Science Department at the University of Manchester.

Artificial ageing used to be done in ovens with uncontrolled
humidity (ie virtually zero) but current practice is to have
controlled humidity ovens which could be adjusted to test the effect
of various% RH. The department also did work on the effects of
humidity on paper properties.

Simon Barcham Green
BSc Paper  Science


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 22:47
                Distributed: Saturday, February 21, 2009
                       Message Id: cdl-22-47-003
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