Conservation of the 58th Battalion Book of Remembrance

Abstract

The salvage and conservation of the 58th Battalion Book of Remembrance is an interesting and important case study of the treatment of a fire-damaged and waterlogged parchment volume. The treatment presented a series of complex conservation problems, which were complicated by the time-sensitive nature of the disaster response, the limited experience of the conservators with similar items, and the scant published material dealing with similar circumstances. These problems were resolved using approaches that may be suitable for broader application to the treatment of flood-affected parchment. Importantly, this case study shows that freezing is an appropriate method for the immediate salvage of waterlogged parchment and allows time for drying to be carried out in a controlled manner sympathetic to its specific material properties.