Emery Records Preservation Company

Brian Burford <brian.burford [at] sos__nh__gov> writes

>I am looking for information regarding the Emery Record Preservation
>Company of Taunton, Massachusetts. They appear to have been in the
>preservation business at least as early as 1900 and as late as the
>late 1920s. I am interested in knowing what their patented process
>was. ...

Brian Burford inquires about a company founded by Francis Walcott
Reed Emery, a bookbinder in Taunton, Mass., USA.  The Emery process
was patented in 1896 and involved sandwiching a paper artifact
between sheets of tissue paper or silk, by means of water-based
paste, and then sealing both surfaces with paraffin.  The company
treated objects for many U.S. institutions, large and small.

The process was one among numerous methods used in North America and
western Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries, primarily with
the goals of strengthening weak papers and/or excluding moisture and
therefore mold growth.

I am working hard to complete a book about the character of the
paper conservation profession in the U.S. and western Europe during
this period, and have long sections about these processes.  Sorry
that the book isn't finished at this time, but you may be interested
in the following:

    Rejection, Nov. 16, 1894.  In case file for patent #561,503,
    Records of the Patent Office, Record Group 241, U.S. National
    Archives.

    U.S. Patent 561,503, 2 June 1896, U.S. Patent Office, Records of
    the Patent Office, Record Group 241, U.S. National Archives.

Christine Smith
6044 Old Telegraph Road
Alexandria, VA. 22310-2146
USA
703-960-1271


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 26:38
                 Distributed: Sunday, February 17, 2013
                       Message Id: cdl-26-38-001
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