Book Preservation

Dear VSG,

I am a grad student at UC Berkeley currently researching in Hanoi. I

am hoping someone on VSG could help out my friend who has an

"interesting" book problem.

He has a first-edition of Alexandre de Rhodes' Tuchinensis Historiae

Libri Duo dating from 1652. This already fragile book is slowly

being eaten by bookworms (and not the good kind!) Any idea on how to

get rid of them? Also, some tips on preservation would be helpful.

It would be a shame for such a rare book to become fodder for vermin.

Thanks for the help,

Martina Nguyen

Martina T. Nguyen

Doctoral Candidate

Department of History

University of California, Berkeley

Hi Martina,

This sounds fascinating - I would try consulting with Pham The Khang,

the Director of the National Library (on Trang Thi street). Some of

his staff have experience in this area, and I have used some of the

more fragile items in their collection (none as old as this one, I

must admit) which have been preserved quite robustly.

Cheers,

Rob Hurle

Martina,

Sorry I did not send you an response to your earlier message on this. I

don't recommend that you rely on the NL too much, since they have not done

this kind of work. I am forwarding your message to John Dean at Cornell.

He can get you a response. I think you can probably use low temperature

treatment, but I am not sure of the details, I hope that John can let us

know.

Lan at the Han Nom Institute, or Library Director Bac at General Sciences

Library in Saigon have both done internships with John Dean in the Dept of

Conservation at Cornell. They are the best local resources for questions of

preservation.

Best

Judith

Judith A. N. Henchy

Head, Southeast Asia Section and Special Assistant to

the Director of University Libraries for International Programs

University of Washington Libraries

Hi Martina-

As Judith mentioned, John Dean from Cornell University is a great resource.

He has also developed a very useful online tutorial on conservation and

preservation methods of Southeast Asian books and other materials. Here is

the URL: http://www.librarypreservation.org/meolda/index.html. You and

your friend may find the section on "pest control" and "basic remedial

treatment" particularly relevant.

Good luck!

lisa

--

Thu-Phuong Lisa H. Nguyen

China Projects Archivist

Stanford University

Dear All,

The Institute of Han Nom studies, working with John Dean, has just published

a preservation manual and DVD. The Institute has also begun workshops in

libraries within Vietnam.

Mike

Michael DiGregorio

Program Officer

Arts & Culture, Education & Scholarship

The Ford Foundation

198 Tran Quang Khai Street, Suites 1502-4

Hanoi, Vietnam

Tel: 84-4-934-9766

Fax: 84-4-934-9765

Dear Rob,

One of the resources that you wish to avail yourself of is www.librarypreservation.org. This is a web-site that provides information on some of the preservation issues that you might be concerned with. One the sections mentions the following:

Various methods have been used to eradicate pests, with differing degrees of success. These include ethylene oxide (ETO), methyl bromide, formaldehyde, and, more recently, gamma radiation. Most chemical fumigants require that the materials be enclosed, a vacuum chamber in the case of ETO and plastic sheeting or tarpaulins in other cases. Gamma radiation, used to deal with both insect and mold infestations, has the advantage of no residual effects a major disadvantage with chemicals but studies have demonstrated that gamma rays damage cellulose, the building blocks of paper. More recently, tests have shown the advantage of both cold and heat to kill harmful insects. Temperature manipulation is preferred to toxic chemicals.

You may wish to try a couple of techniques. One method that works very well for small groups of books is heat treatment. Wrap the book(s) up tightly in black plastic and place it in a metal box that can be sealed. Place the box in direct sunlight for about 4 to 6 hours. Alternatively wrap the book in clear plastic and freeze for a couple of days. However, it is important to ensure that the book is conditioned (allowed to slowly readjust to ambient temperature after freezing) before replacing it on the shelf, otherwise mold can develop because of condensation. One method to effect this is by standing the frozen book on edge on absorbent paper and allowing a fan to blow constantly on the book to help sublimate the moisture as the book warms. In SEA, it is common to use formaldehyde mixed with water and heated to produce a mist which is piped into a sealed box, but this is not very good for the health of the operative. My advice is stick with heating or freezing as insects live in a fairly fixed temperature zone and it is comparatively easy to disrupt it. When the book is free of live insects, go through it with a soft brush and fan away any dead insects, larvae, and eggs. It may be that the insect damage was caused several years ago but do it anyway. Check the site for information on general care and housing.

John