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Examination
The goal of the treatment was to improve the condition of the paper support: to remove old hinges and relax the tensions created by the hinge adhesives; reduce dirt, discoloration, and stains; mend tears; fill skinned areas; reduce creases/wrinkles. Having the print in the lab also provided an opportunity to undertake a technical examination of the print.
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Recto, before treatment. Support: Antique laid paper, sized. Media: Black printing ink. Library of Congress conservation history: The print came to the lab last in 1983, in preparation for a loan; the condition was deemed satisfactory and no treatment other than hinging was done.
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Verso, before treatment. Visible collection marks: KlvLiphart (Karl Eduard von Liphart, 1808-1891); Hubbard (Gardiner Greene Hubbard, 1822-1897; Hubbard's widow gifted the Library its first major collection of master prints in 1898, the year after the Library's Jefferson building was completed). Visible condition problems: scattered brown spots and other patches of discoloration; remnants of several different hinges along the top edge; paper remnants adhered to bottom corners; skinning in the middle of the left edge; pinhole in bottom left corner.
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Raking light illumination shows some condition problems more clearly, most notably the puckering along the top edge from all the hinges, other localized tensions from previous mends, and the vertical center crease.
Watermark Imaging
According to Joseph Meder's Dürer Catalog (1932), Hondius's edition of the Rhinoceros should have a single headed eagle watermark.
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A transmitted light photograph with the verso facing up shows the watermark, a single headed eagle facing its left, similar to Meder 224 and Briquet 2096 (Joseph Meder, Dürer-Katalog: ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren Zustände, Ausgaben und Wasserzeichen, Vienna: Gilhofer & Ranschburg, 1932 and Charles Moïse Briquet, Les Filigranes: Dictionnaire Historique des Marques du Papier Dés Leur Apparition vers 1282 jusqu’en 1600, Paris: A. Picard & fils, 1907).
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Image of watermark obtained through multispectral imaging and processing shows the design much more clearly. Image credit: Meghan Wilson.
Treatment Imaging
Besides serving as a record of treatment and as a tool for further documentation and description of the object (e.g., watermark imaging), specialized photographic documentation can also help guide and evaluate conservation treatment.
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Marking stamp inks like the Hubbard stamp on the verso can be very sensitive to wet conservation treatment.
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The stamp ink was transparent to infrared, suggesting the ink is dye-based. This information helped the conservator to prepare for the likelihood that the ink would be water soluble.
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UV-induced visible fluorescence, recto, before treatment. Materials exposed to ultraviolet radiation can absorb and then re-emit some of that energy at a longer wavelength (UV-induced visible fluorescence). Humans can see the re-emitted energy if its between 400-700 nm (visible light).
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UV-induced visible fluorescence, verso, before treatment. There are deterioration spots in the paper support that fluoresce bright yellow.
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UV-induced visible fluorescence, verso, after washing in a bath conditioned to pH 8 with saturated calcium hydroxide. The fluorescence is diminished, suggesting those previously fluorescing deterioration components were solubilized and largely rinsed away in the bath. Note the adhesive traces (fluorescent) from the old hinges along the top edge.
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UV-induced visible fluorescence, verso, after local treatment of top edge for 15 minutes with a 4% gellan gel prepared with alpha-amylase and applied with a heating pad underneath, then "rinsed" with a blank gels. Diminished fluorescence along the top edge suggests the enzyme gel reduced the amount of adhesive still on the paper.
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Detail of one spot of brown discoloration/staining on the shoulder of the rhinoceros, before treatment.
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Detail of one spot of brown discoloration/staining on the shoulder of the rhinoceros, after local treatment with 5% agarose gel made with a 0.5% solution of equal parts Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) and citric acid, adjusted pH to 6 with 50% w/v 1M sodium hydroxide solution.
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Detail photograph of UV-induced visible fluorescence of same brown spot, before treatment.
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Detail photograph of UV-induced visible fluorescence of same brown spot, after treatment. During local gel treatment, a tideline appeared to form, so the print was bathed in pH 8 conditioned water before the area dried. The lack of a visible tideline under ultraviolet radiation suggests the bathing was effective in preventing the setting of the tideline.