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Featured 1673 Richard Blome Map remounting

Discussion in 'Books' started by Houseful, May 4, 2025.

  1. Houseful

    Houseful Well-Known Member

    I Posted this in the Finds forum in February. Charity shop buy £4.
    I’ve just opened it up to see what I need to do to save it from the acid leach. I wasn’t sure if it has been stuck down completely when I bought it but took a chance. As you can see the tissue paper has caused the main problems. I was thinking that to stop it I can trim the top and bottom of the map a little bit but nothing to be done about the sides especially where the tissue has been stuck down. Any suggestions please? All I can think of doing is to use new acid free paper and mountboard but don’t know if the leach will continue to happen even without the tissue paper being there. Thanks.
    IMG_9334.jpeg IMG_9335.jpeg IMG_9328.jpeg IMG_9330.jpeg IMG_9329.jpeg IMG_9333.jpeg IMG_9332.jpeg IMG_9331.jpeg
     
    Born2it, Figtree3, sabre123 and 5 others like this.
  2. daveydempsey

    daveydempsey Moderator Moderator

    If 1673 I'd be placing it between two pieces of glass with a seal all around.
     
    Figtree3, Aquitaine, evelyb30 and 3 others like this.
  3. Houseful

    Houseful Well-Known Member

    I’ve not had experience with anything this old. Usually things are fine using acid free boards, they do look nice if done properly. I don’t know if just using glass would be better for the paper or if using acid free paper and board around it would stop the brown leach.
    It is 1673, from a book he published.
     
    Figtree3, johnnycb09 and wlwhittier like this.
  4. moreotherstuff

    moreotherstuff Izorizent

    I don't think you should trim it. I wouldn't worry a lot about staining around the edges (so long as it's not mold). I don't think such is particularly unexpected in a piece that old. It could, of course, be restored and conserved, but the cost would most likely be prohibitive.
     
    Last edited: May 4, 2025
    Born2it, Figtree3, sabre123 and 7 others like this.
  5. 2manybooks

    2manybooks Well-Known Member

    I would not recommend placing it between glass. A good acid free window mat and backing would be safer.

    Is it the brown paper glued to the back of one edge that you are referring to as "tissue"? It may be that the map was "tipped" into a book at some point in its history, (though probably not in the original binding). Looking at the front of the map, it does not appear to have caused any staining worse than what can be seen along the other edges. Best to just leave it as is.
     
    Figtree3, mirana, Houseful and 4 others like this.
  6. Houseful

    Houseful Well-Known Member

    Yes it’s the brown tissue paper that was stuck to the one side of the map but it was under the whole map, cut to the same size.
    Because the map had the full sheet of the tissue behind it up to the edge of the map it looks to me like the acid leach could have been caused by sunlight that could have got into the edges of the tissue to discolour the map if that makes sense. I’m just concerned the brown edges on the map will creep and get worse if I don’t trim it off where I can. You can just about see the brown tissue edge directly under the map edge on the pic below.
    IMG_9335.jpeg
     
    Figtree3 likes this.
  7. Houseful

    Houseful Well-Known Member

    Yes I agree the cost would be high and likely more than it’s worth. They don’t fetch as much as you might expect, maybe £100-200ish. But a good buy at £4.
     
  8. Chinoiserie

    Chinoiserie Well-Known Member

    Is it actually from 1673 or is it a copy from a later period? Either way it's an interesting piece. It's good to look at all the old place names and spellings. No motorways! :shame:

    I have an antique painting and made enquiries into having it restored. £1800 was the quote :confused: I hid.

    They use dilute peroxide solution to bleach the discolouration out by floating the paper on top so it's not completely submerged. Then they use some kind of mild alkali salt such as carbonates to remove the peroxide and the original acidic compounds in the paper. Then it's washed out.

    I would perhaps like to try this one day on some unimportant piece of old scrap paper that has gone brown.
     
    Born2it and Figtree3 like this.
  9. Houseful

    Houseful Well-Known Member

    I believe it is from that date from looking at map dealers web pages.
    I just wouldn’t know how the ink would react to any solution, I don’t have the know how/skills.
    I know if you get green verdigris on jewellery you have to remove it or it spreads, I just don’t know if the acid leach would do the same.
     
    Chinoiserie likes this.
  10. Chinoiserie

    Chinoiserie Well-Known Member

    I'm not suggesting you do. I'm just waffling. Sorry. A lot of water colour paints bond to the paper over time so it's safe. Not so sure about ink.
     
  11. Chinoiserie

    Chinoiserie Well-Known Member

    Does that say the German Ocean on the right? Fascinating.

    "In Britain and elsewhere, the North Sea was commonly known as the 'German Ocean' until the early 20th century. That changed after the First World War, when the name became politically unacceptable in Britain."
     
  12. Houseful

    Houseful Well-Known Member

    I know you weren’t suggesting I had a go and were just giving suggestions to help. I read they can do something about brown spot foxing on watercolours but no idea if acid leach is more or less the same thing. As I said I think sunlight can cause the acid leach where the edge of the mount is bevel cut because that’s where you see it.
    I think I’ll do what I can with good high rag content acid free paper and mountboard. I already bought some acid free tapes from Hobbycraft.
     
    mirana and Chinoiserie like this.
  13. Houseful

    Houseful Well-Known Member

    I didn’t know that. I suppose it’s like German Shepherds being called Alsatians.
     
    Chinoiserie likes this.
  14. Chinoiserie

    Chinoiserie Well-Known Member

    Sounds like a plan. I hope you manage to stem the rot. It's well worth saving.
     
  15. Chinoiserie

    Chinoiserie Well-Known Member

    I didn't know it until I saw it on your map and googled it. I bet there are lots of other little history lessons hidden within.
     
    Houseful likes this.
  16. moreotherstuff

    moreotherstuff Izorizent

    at that age, it should be on laid paper.
     
    Chinoiserie likes this.
  17. mirana

    mirana Well-Known Member

    If the acid was coming from the tissue, then it would be discolored everywhere the tissue was touching. This acid came from the original mat and the tissue just absorbed the acid from the mat and also the backing.

    The marking around the edges is called an acid burn. I've never heard of anyone saying it spreads. It comes from the acidic object itself. So remove that and you shouldn't have more issues. Further, adding new acid free mats and backing will help because they're designed to absorb acid themselves and be a barrier.

    You also have to tape the inside of the frame with acid free tape because wood is a source of acids.

    I would not trim this. There's no need. Simply cut a mat opening that covers the damaged areas, if you think that looks better.

    I would also not use standard acid free tape to mount this. Personally, I would use archival mounting corners and archival mounting strips. That way there is no adhesive on the piece.

    I never recommend glass float mounting...that is framing between two pieces of glass, unless there is a built in spacer between the object and the glass. Humidity will absolutely wreck an object that is against glass. It causes things to adhere and you cannot remove them without damage. I've seen it repeatedly. In fact, just saw it on a couple of antique lithos in a museum last month.
     
  18. Houseful

    Houseful Well-Known Member

    Thank you to all. Very helpful suggestions and I will buy some mounting strips Mirana and tape around the wooden frame.
     
    mirana and Chinoiserie like this.
  19. Houseful

    Houseful Well-Known Member

    Here’s a close up of the paper.
    IMG_9344.jpeg
     
  20. Ex Libris

    Ex Libris Well-Known Member

    It looks like laid (handmade, pre-industrial revolution) paper to me.
     
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