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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

preserving ww1 letter


Steve hiscox

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I have a letter in my possession that was sent to my gt grandmother from a chaplain on the western front. 

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to preserve it and prevent it from fading.

Steve 20171126_200055.jpg.c893bd388cc6e98760caa1f25fbe2c43.jpg

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Er, no link, TR?

 

Rare books librarian here: see if you can lay hold of a Melinex (acid-free clear film) envelope, about an inch larger all round than the letter when it is open flat.

 

If unable to source one, contact your local county record office conservation team, and ask where they get theirs from.

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I lost the plot Sj. I agree with you reply however. Also keep it out of sunlight and handle it as little as possible. The Melinex envelopes mentioned above will do the trick.

 

TR

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With many of my odd bits of ephemera/booklets of that age, I initially scan them with a high resolution, save in a separate file then store the original in a cupboard sandwiched between acid free artists paper and leave them well alone. I can then print any I want to frame..if they fade I can just reprint.

 

Dave.

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Thanks TR!

I agree about nil sunlight and nil handling if possible. 

 

Also, get a good transcription and image (no flash!) soon as a backup record in case of any sudden deterioration (or worse calamity).

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As usual, very prompt and helpful replies from you guys.

Thanks in bundles 

Steve 

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All the above advice is excellent.  I did a similar thing recently with some of my Grandad's postcards dating from WW1.  I scanned both sides of each card which, when coupled with digital imagery manipulation, allowed some unreadable text to be deciphered.  I also obtained acid-free plastic pocket sheets and an archival-quality box.  My hope is that the postcards in acid-free plastic contained in a light-proof box should do the trick. :)

 

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Mellinex, out of sunlight and high resolution copy-yes, all excellent archive practice.  Also, have regard to temperature. The paper on the letter is woodpulp, which will degrade over a long period of time anyway-due to the residual acids in the paper making process. (Just think of an old tabloid newspaper left in a sunny place). Normal ideals are cool-ish and dry (60-65 Fahrenheit ambient temperature). When storing any woodpulp paper product,book or manuscript, the preference should be for  dry and cool, not dry and warm.  Aridity dries out the papers and makes them brittle.

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Also storage - not up against an external wall with no air gap. 

 

On a sunny day the wall will warm, then (usually) cool at night. Moisture on the wrong side of the condensation point (too close  to the wall) will evaporate out of air / paper / leather etc on warming, and condense as water on cooling. Perfect recipe for eventual mould.

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