Conservation Lab: Projects
Exhibition Pamphlet File Project
 In 2004, the Conservation Lab completed a three-year project to preserve the Library’s extensive collection of exhibition-related ephemera. These individually cataloged materials include exhibition checklists, invitations, and announcements. More than 17,000 items were assessed for treatment and conserved. Some of these treatments included paper mending, alkalization, and encapsulation.
Unique Auction Catalog Project
Preservation photocopies were made of more than 2,000 unique auction catalogs. Original catalogs were rehoused in protective enclosures and stored in special collections.
Elephant Folio Project
The Department undertook an extensive project to conserve and rehouse the Library’s elephant folio collection. The collection comprises monographs on artists, catalogs of collections, reference books, and facsimiles. Most of the folios include etchings, engravings, lithographs, original drawings, and pastels dating to 1640. The goal of the project was to treat and house the entire collection of elephant folios in appropriate protective enclosures. Partial funding for this project was obtained through a grant from the New York State Program for the Conservation and Preservation of Library Research Materials. These funds enabled the purchase of drop-spine boxes and portfolios while the Library assumed the cost of the treatments.
Oversize Book Project
Since 2000, the Lab has focused on the conservation and housing of the Library’s collection of oversized books. Approximately eighty oversized books are treated and housed annually.
Unmounted Photograph Project
A project to encapsulate the entire collection of unmounted photographs in the photoarchive was completed in 2004. More than 500,000 photographs have been encapsulated and filed in acid-free folders and boxes.
The Frick Collection Works on Paper
In 2005, the Conservation Department completed a project to rehouse the drawings and prints in The Frick Collection. Tape and paper hinges were removed and prints and drawings were rehinged, matted, and housed in protective cases.
|
