White Sparrow Bindery

At today’s staff awards ceremony, Bexx Caswell, Linsey Allen, and Sue Depoorter were recognized for all of the work they have done to make boxes for Special Collections Materials. Almost 3,000 boxes were made in house this year, an increase of 400% over last year! Sue Depoorter also received a much deserved award recognizing her outstanding service in the lab. Thank you to our colleagues at the MSU Libraries for acknowledging us - we’re still blushing! — view on Instagram http://ift.tt/2r9aG16

The last few months of non-stop box making have nearly killed me, so I am really grateful to my coworkers for acknowledging our efforts!

Cathy Baker will be giving a FREE lecture at the MSU Libraries on April 22 at 6pm.  Hope to see you there!

Hey, this is tonight!!!!

I have absolutely no idea what happened to this book. The pages literally crumb into dust when touched. It smells kind of like plastic, and resembles melting paint.

Yikes!

A new exhibit is now on display in the special collections exhibit cases, located across from the reference desk on the first floor of the main library.  It’s called A Bequest of Bees.  More info about the exhibit is here.

There is a lot of behind the scenes work that goes into installing an exhibit - from selecting materials, writing text, designing the panels, and making custom cradles for books and objects.  Here at the MSU Libraries we are lucky to have an awesome team of curators, conservators, graphic designers, and an awesome facilities crew - each exhibit is a team effort!

Last week we took down the fencing exhibit that has been on display on the first floor of the main library.  Getting in and out of the cases is quite a production!  It takes six suction cups and four strong men to lift the top off of the largest case.

Check out this super cool hand-stitched repair I found in an early 17th century binding.  I’ve seen this type of repair done in vellum manuscripts, but never on paper.  Although it isn’t the most perfect repair, it has a certain Frankenstein’s monster look to it that I can’t help but love.

Want to see this book in Special Collections?  Find it here.

- Bexx

I love seeing evidence of past ownership.

For anyone in the East Lansing area - there is a FREE event in the library TONIGHT that includes a dessert reception, a viewing of selected books from the fencing collection, and a LIVE fencing demonstration courtesy of the MSU Fencing Club. 

You can find all of the info here: https://www.lib.msu.edu/node/3793/

I forgot to reblog this earlier, which gives anyone reading this only 20 minutes to get to the library before the event starts.  Ooops. 

Check out Special Collections Librarian Patrick Olson showing off a chained binding in this video courtesy of the State News. You can see more pictures and read the full article at http://statenews.com/article/2015/02/special-collections

That chained binding is in the lab right now, awaiting a box. 

We recently acquired a stack of original comic art from Muthu Comics in India.  Painted on cardstock with tempera, these colorful images were used as cover art for reprints of Western comics (you can see the comic next to the original in the last photo). 

The paintings had been covered in cellophane which was taped directly to the back. The cellophane had been applied very tightly, which caused the paintings to curl into an unnatural position.  Although this made me cringe, I realized that without this plastic covering, the friable tempera paint probably would have been damaged by abrasion.

I removed the cellophane, and very carefully removed the tape from the back of each item.  This helped them to flatten out.  They are currently being stored in a custom made box with interleaving tissue.  However, due to their fragile nature, we plan to place them into custom mats so that they can be handled without risk of touching the face of the painting.

Click here to learn more about the Comic Art Collection.

~ Bexx

These were a lot of fun to look at - not the kind of thing we normally see in the conservation lab!

Bookbinder and Book Artists Karen Hanmer will be giving a FREE lecture at the Michigan State Libraries on February 16.  If you are in the area, I encourage you to check this out.  Did I mention that it’s FREE.

My friend Karen will be giving a FREE talk at the MSU Libraries. If you are nearby, please join us!

The red silk used to sew these end bands has completely worn away where the thread was exposed to light and air, leaving the twisted paper core made of printed waste visible.

So cool.