Preservation Challenges
The commercial Victorian binding originally was held together only by adhesive, which after decades in the Dead Letters Office had turned brittle and failed. The album was coming apart. Without treatment, the album could not be used for research, exhibition, scanning projects, or even be relocated safely. Therefore, Prints and Photographs asked the LC Conservation Division to stabilize the album, while preserving its unique character.
Senior Rare Book Conservator Alan Haley examined, analyzed, and documented the album, discovering that while the photographs were stock images, the decorative work around the mounts was unique. This decorative work and the photographs themselves were threatened by the collapse of the binding due to adhesive failure and mishandling.
