Handling Antique Papers in Antique
Collecting
Paper in itself is a rather difficult thing to handle and store. Add a couple of
decades to it, raise the overall value and you get something doubly difficult.
Antique books, maps, prints, and even personal letters and documents need proper
handling and storage in order to minimize decay and make them last. The
following are some basic techniques for handling antique papers and antique
book collecting.
As much as possible minimize handling the papers with your bare hands. Never
handle antique papers with your bare hands. The human skin secretes oils
that can be damaging to sensitive antique items, especially paper. For one, the
oil leaves marks on the surface and two, the chemical reaction of the oil with
the paper might be unpredictable. When handling antique papers, its best that
you use cotton gloves.
If you have seen an old newspaper, you know how brittle the pages are because of
age. Real antique papers will be more brittle and thus more difficult to
transport or move around. It's best to place something like a supporting
cardboard or another tough paper underneath the antique to keep it properly
supported.
Harsh light can cause damage to antiques including papers so make sure
the antique won't be exposed to the sun or any harsh lights. Smoke and air
pollutants can cause considerable damage as well.
Taking these things into consideration, the ideal place that we could store such
antique papers and documents would be in a cool dry room. If you have the money,
you can custom build a storage compartment for storing the papers.
Aside from harsh light and damaging smoke, humidity is another element that
you need to be aware of. Having low humidity levels will keep the paper
clean from the brown discolorations that we often call foxing. Another great
benefit of keeping humidity low is the fact that it prevents mold growth on the
paper.
Other things that you need to consider - avoid using metal clips as
binding for the antique papers, eating in front of the paper, drinking is also a
no-no. Just imagine spilling a can of soda over the antique paper, so avoiding
these things is the best course of action.
Preservation of antique documents, pictures, etc., is a major aspect of archival
science. It is also an important consideration for people who are creating
family history, historical documents, scrapbooks and family trees. Common
storage media are not permanent, and there are few reliable methods of
preserving documents and pictures for the future.