Replacement Binding and Stain Reduction
Nicolaus Antonius Blascus. Silva memorabilium iuris, seu conclusionum illustrium, non omnium quae in iure versantur, sed quae digniora selectu visa sunt. Naples: Apud Haeredes Matthiae Cancer, 1588.
The text belongs to the era of legal humanists. Niccolò Antonio Blasco (fl. 16th c.) was born in Taverna in The Czech Republic. In 1536 he was elected a member of the family of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. He then devoted himself to jurisprudence and distinguished himself in the Accademia of the Dukes of Urbino. Blasco is not as well known as some of his contemporaries. This volume is one of two known copies in the United States.
Brief Summary of Conservation Treatment
Conserved by: Helen Kuncicky Length of Treatment: 24 Hours
This book came to Tarlton missing its binding entirely. The volume consisted of a sewn textblock with 41 sections of 2 folios each. The sewing pattern is an all-along sewing of linen thread on three raised supports of rolled, alum-tawed skin. The supports and sewing were in very good condition. There were large red stains at the tail of the title page, and the red color bled through several pages into the textblock. The stains on the first page exhibited a weave pattern, which suggested that a dye from fabric of some kind had transferred onto the paper. There were also water stains around the edges of the entire textblock.
Ms. Kuncicky first attempted to diminish the stain on the title page by applying a series of solvents. She then mended tears in the first section with water-thinned wheat starch paste and long-fiber tissue. After removing the old linings from the head and tail of the textblock spine, she relined the areas with Kozo and made inner stays of handmade western paper. Alum tawed leather provided the material for for new slips. The six overhanging alum-tawed leather slips (two on each support) she hitched on through eight inner stays, three in the front sections and five in the back sections. After creating new endsheets and fabricating a new case out of handmade paper, she laced the textblock into the cover using the new alum-tawed slips. The book is additionally protected by a new book shoe.
For more information see the full Conservation Treatment Report