How to Preserve a Notebook

Here’s an interesting question for those of us who have fragile antique notebooks– how do you protect and preserve them?

Q: I have my grandmother’s 105-year-old notebook with her beautiful calligraphy. The ink is fading, and the pages are becoming more and more brittle. What is the proper way to preserve it? And is there someone who could digitize the notebook and make high-quality copies of the pages without damaging it?

In this case, the recommendations include contacting a professional conservator who can assess the paper and ink and potentially treat the notebook to combat acidity.

Read more: How to preserve a notebook that has sentimental value

5 thoughts on “How to Preserve a Notebook”

  1. Apparently, they block folks from the U.S. as well, unless you’re a subscriber. Hate links the are just dead ends.

  2. Bizarrely, I’m in Australia and can read the article, no problems. If you’ve still not been able to read it, the brief (6 para) article deals only with the original inquirer’s notebook. It gives a couple of contacts for conservators in the Washington area, then basically goes on to say leave it to the professionals, who will stabilise and preserve the notebook using materials that are chemically stable. The final suggestion is to scan each page of the notebook. Not exactly what I was expecting to read, but I suppose it was of some help to the original inquirer.

  3. I would also recommend scanning the contents and keeping a digital version. We did that with my father’s journal after he died. It’s not as aesthetically pleasing, but at least the contents are preserved that way.

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