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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;User 67, post: 16343, member: 67&quot;]The bane of all paper is humidity, a constant humidity, not to high and not to low will keep paper at it&#039;s best. Drastic changes in humidity will tear paper and fiber apart and having the books in a south facing room can cause the room to heat up at noon and cool down at sunset and therefore rise and lower humidity on a daily basis. The fibers in the pages plumping up and thinning out with rising and lowering humidity are like a million microscopic hands tearing at the fibers of the pages. Temperature is much less a problem, unless you have severe temps and quick fluctuations, though a temp closer to 60 is preferred. But usually to the extent that temp affects the humidity, is when it can be a problem. Basements and attics are often the worst in the regard to humidity and temp changes.</p><p><br /></p><p>My suggestions, and I am not an expert, are:</p><p><br /></p><p>1) donate them to someone who will take care of them. Is there a law library or college who would want them? At least the oldest ones if they are rare. But maybe not because every lawyer seems to have a collection of state laws going back to god knows when, they might be more interested in the content than the antique binding.</p><p><br /></p><p>2) Put glass doors on the shelves, this will create a micro climate within the book case that will resist the daily fluctuations in humidity. In a controlled environment like that you can add a silica humidity absorber, which will help regulate the humidity to keep it more constant.</p><p><br /></p><p>3) Don&#039;t display all the books at the same time. Even though I love the look of these old books, my designer eye says it&#039;s too much of a good thing. I like to see bookcases broken up by art and sculpture, and when all the books are the same it can start to look like a 1970s spaghetti restaurant or law office, a cool law office, but a law office non the less. You could easily remove half the books, box them up and put them in the back of a closet where the temp and humidity changes won&#039;t be as drastic. Then every few years, you could switch them around.</p><p><br /></p><p>4) Shut the curtains and close off the window when no one is in the room.</p><p><br /></p><p>5. Don&#039;t put plants or bowls of water in the room (flowers), unless it is for a special occasion.</p><p><br /></p><p>6. I have used lanolin on some leather with great success. I fond a type of ethnic hair conditioner with a very high concentration of lanolin, almost all lanolin, that I have used on dried leather and to condition new winter boots. I found it at a wig and salon supply store that sold alot of extensions. I don&#039;t know that I would try it on books, but for a stiff leather bag that was destined for the dust bin, it worked wonders.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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