Before treatment photos of The Liberty Bell (front cover, spine, and inner front joint.)

These lessons arose from conservation treatments I conducted during my internship. One treatment focused on a book from the Anti-Slavery Collection, an 1847 edition of The Liberty Bell. This edition is part of a series of gift books published by “Friends of Freedom” to raise funds for their anti-slavery efforts. The Liberty Bell is a highly requested item, and undergoes regular handling. 

The damage on The Liberty Bell was extensive. The cover board was breaking along the joints, there were losses at the head and tail of the spine, and the text block had tears and detached pages. It was during my assessment of the book’s condition that I found a green ribbon bookmark within the text block. Finding this ribbon was special because it showed how the book may have been used by a previous owner. It’s these moments in conservation that I adore, the human elements that highlight the importance of maintaining the integrity of an object as you found it, so future readers and researchers can understand its significance beyond the page.

With this in mind, I addressed the damage in a way that didn’t erase or change the history of the book as an object. I employed a robust method called a tissue reback, which enhanced the stability of the book without noticeably altering its look and feel. This treatment required numerous techniques, which honed skills applicable to a variety of projects. I replaced the materials on the spine, removed and re-attached the boards, and stabilized the text block by disassembling the original sewing and sewing supports, reinforcing weakened sections, re-attaching detached leaves, mending all the tears and losses in the paper, and resewing the text block with new thread and sewing supports.

Another conservation treatment I performed was on the Declaration of a Cessation of Arms, a broadside printed in 1783 that detailed the definitive treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain. This was one of my favorite treatments, because of its historical significance and the challenge of removing it from a scrapbook to improve its handleability and legibility, and free it from the strain of being folded to fit within the scrapbook binding. The broadside was glued to a paper stub, so I had to remove it without damaging any of its soft, pliable paper. I introduced humidification to the adhered area by creating a “humidification station” that was masked off from the rest of the document. I then manually removed the portions of the paper stub that lifted in response to the humidity, and cut away the parts that didn’t. The rest of the treatment involved replacing previous repairs without disturbing the iron gal ink manuscript, and filling the loss at the bottom of the document with toned Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste.

It’s heartwarming to know my conservation treatments will enable patrons to engage with collection items at the BPL. I am deeply grateful for this internship, and thankful to everyone who made it possible. Thank you to the conservation team, Chris, Mary, and Annie, for being the foundation of my experience, for your trust and encouragement. Thank you to the Special Collections staff for welcoming and embracing me. And thank you to the Associates of the Boston Public Library, as this internship would not be possible without your support. It will always amaze me that, in the summer of 2025, I learned and worked at the Boston Public Library.