"jim rozen" wrote in message
...
In article , Adam Smith says...

the books to formaldehyde crystals in a sealed garbage can. You can't
really
de-innoculate paper, once it is innoculated with mold, all you can do is
ensure that they don't stay in conditions for the mold to grow ...

Has anyone ever considered irradiating books to scramble the mold's
genetic information? This is how they treat foods, basically just
run them under a high flux cobalt source.

I could imagine that curing the problem once and for all.

Jim


A very interesting question! I don't know the answer. Back when I did my own
bookbinding/book conservation training (about 15 years ago, and I've never
practised), it was not something that was part of the standard practise. But
now ... ? I will forward your question to a few people that need to hear the
idea, if it is not being done now. I'll let you know if your idea is a new
thought. It actually might be, since conservators are, unsurprisingly, a
very conservative lot.

BTW, I referenced formaldehyde, because that is what I was taught, but the
traditional chemical is paranitrophenol. The conservator that was training
me felt that formaldehyde was just as effective, no more toxic (both are
very, I'm afraid), and easier to source.

Also BTW, the people that have been referencing vacuum chambers, as well as
freezing, are quite correct that those are techniques that get used. I
recall reading an account of the folks that dealt with the Venice flood,
which swamped a medieval library there, and I seem to recall that both
freezing and vacuum chambers were in play (along with prodigious amounts of
labour). If I were Gunner, I'd still go with paper towel and pressing,
though, rotating out the damp towels to air dry. But if he has a high flux
cobalt source handy, and tries your idea, I definitely want to hear about
it.

Adam Smith,
Midland, ON, Canada



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