Recent Additions to the Dartmouth Digital Collections

Dartmouth College and Associated Schools General Catalogue, 1769-1940

Published in 1940, the General Catalogue of Dartmouth College is a directory of Dartmouth's administrative officers and faculty; graduate and non-graduate alumni of the undergraduate college; graduate and non-graduate alumni of the professional schools and graduate programs; special students; and honorary degree recipients, dating from the founding of Dartmouth in 1769 through the class of 1939.  The entries for alumni provide brief biographical information including birth date and place, residence (for those living at the time of publication), death date and place (for the deceased), occupation, Dartmouth degrees, and any additional educational information.  Similar information is included for officers and faculty, plus their term of service to the College.  Entries for non-graduates of the undergraduate college often include the time period during which they were in attendance.  The catalogue contains three indexes: to officers and faculty; to alumni; and geographical index to where alumni were living at the time of the catalogue's publication.

Stone Family Papers, 1571-1933

The papers of the Stone family contain parchment indentures, covenants, probate deeds and wills, manuscript notes, letters, receipts and invoices.  The documents chronicle the legal transactions of Richard Stone (circa 1570-1653) of Clayhanger, Devon and Chipstable, Somerset, England and his descendants.  Seen together the materials shed light on the evolution of British legal documents from 1571 to 1872.  Richard Stone of Clayhanger, Devon and Chipstable, Somerset was born in the 1570s and died in 1653.  Richard was married twice and had eight children.  The line of descent from his son Emanuel Stone from his first marriage can be traced in the UK and USA to the present day.  The line of descent from his son Richard from his second marriage also can be traced to the present day in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.  The original manuscripts are available for use at Rauner Special Collections Library (Rauner Manuscript MS-1339).

Chinese Love Stories from "Ch'ing-shih" by Hua-yuan Li Mowry

 
There are currently fifty open access ebooks available on the Digital Library Publishing pages (http://www.dartmouth.edu/~library/digital/publishing/books/).  Chinese Love Stories from "Ch'ing-shih" by Hua-yuan Li Mowry is the latest addition to the collection.  Ch'ing-shih is a lovingly made anthology of love stories, provided we push the limits of definition of "love story" just a little wider than they are usually set.  The stories are classified into twenty-four major categories, each further divided into subsections and concluded with a paragraph of commentary.  Professor Mowry provides a sampling of the contents of each category but not of each subsection, though the headings themselves are enough to pique our curiosity; shall we turn next to "incomplete resurrections," or "unusual degenerates"?  The stories were collected in the early seventeenth century, just a decade or two before the fall of the Ming dynasty, but nine-tenths of them are pre-Ming in origin.  Whether the earliest or the most recent stories have the higher artistic value will be a matter for the reader's judgement. - From the Preface.

Written by Bill Ghezzi

Baker Library in the Dartmouth College Photographic Files Collection

During the month of May, close to 1500 photographs of Baker Library were added to the Dartmouth College Photographic Files Collection. Included are many photos of the Baker Library building, interior and exterior, including its construction, as well as people that have worked here over many years. Here are some samples:

Baker Bery Under Construction

The Main Corridor

The Treasure Room

Baker Circulation Desk

Baker Library in Winter

View a much larger selection here.

The Dartmouth College Photographic Files project began in early 2012 and is part of the Dartmouth Digital Collections. The project's goal is to make over 80,000 photographs stored in file cabinets in Rauner Special Collections available online. Images date from the early years of photography (ca. 1850s) to the present and include images of nearly all aspects of Dartmouth College life. To date there are over 36,000 photos from the collection online. We add approximetly 1,000 photographs to the collection every month. We are working through the photographs alphabetically and have reached the letter "M". See additional photographs of Feldbery Library; Dana Biomedical Library and Kresge Library.

If you have questions about the Photographic Files Collection contact Rauner Special Collections If you have questions about the ditital imaging of the collection contact William B. Ghezzi or Ryland Ianelli in the Digial Production Unit.

Written by William B. Ghezzi

Structural Intervention: Treatment of Albums from the Iconography Collection

As a Samuel H. Kress Conservation Fellow, I have been spending my first post-graduate year revamping Rauner’s Iconography Collection. The Iconography Collection is an image-based collection which includes prints, photographs, negatives, albums, and various other materials.  In my initial survey of the collection I found that a number of the top treatment priorities were albums.  I decided to focus on treatment of these albums not only because they were in poor condition, but also because this allowed me to further explore my interest in album structures. 

Example of a damaged album discovered during the survey.

   

In conservation we try to preserve the original structure of the books we work with, but there are times when the original structure is inherently problematic and must be altered to prevent future damage. I have found that this is especially applicable to albums.  A common condition issue was that either one or both of the boards were detached. 

For the album shown below, I successfully reattached the boards and preserved the original structure of the album.  The detachment occurred between two of the front pages, and the spine covering had pulled away from the text block.  I cleaned the old adhesive from the inside of the spine covering and the spine of the text block, and then placed new linings on both.

Carte-de-visit album before treatment, showing detached front board.

 Here you can see that the new spine lining was used to successfully reattach the front board.

  

Carte-de-visit album after treatment, showing reattached front board.

  

However, for some of the other albums treated, such as the next example shown below, I decided that returning the album to its original structure was not the best solution.      

  

Carte-de-visit album before treatment, showing detached front pages 
and detached cover.

While I placed a new lining on the text block spine and attached the text block to the back cover, I chose to leave the front board detached. Reattachment would have made the album too difficult to open and would have caused it to break again in the same exact manner. 

  

Carte-de-visit album after treatment, showing reattached front pages and front cover 
left purposefully detached  (back cover has been attached to the text block).

My favorite album from the collection features stunning watercolors from 1857-58 made by Sir Henry Hugh Clifford, who was stationed in Canton, China an Assistant Quartermaster General in the British Army.  While Clifford was stationed in China to serve in the Second Opium War, his meticulous paintings capture serene and colorful landscapes and portray scenes of everyday life in China.

Watercolor painting by Sir Henry Hugh Clifford entitled "Chinese Junk"

As we are nearing the end of a long, cold winter, this album has been a treat to work with, and has led me to start fantasizing about warmer weather and beaches.

Watercolor painting by Sir Henry Hugh Clifford entitled "Sunset, Victoria".

Prior to treatment, the album was bound in a post-style binding.  After close examination, it became clear this was not the original binding structure and the cover did not add informational value to the object. 

Overall image of album: please note the significant amount of
surface dirt on the pages in the upper right.

Detail of post binding structure: cord strung through two holes through
text block and tied together, pages are not secure.

We decided that removing the album from the binding completely and storing the leaves in an enclosure was the best solution, because this will allow for easier access and prevent strain on the pages.  While dis-binding the album, I conducted dry surface cleaning of the pages to remove the highly noticeable, easily-transferable dirt.

Dry surface cleaning a page from Sir Henry Hugh Clifford's album using
cosmetic sponges.

Album page after surface cleaning.

Album page before surface cleaning.

Collectively, these treatments show that, while we strive toward minimal intervention, altering the structure of bound materials is sometimes the best course of action to prevent further damage. 

Written by Tessa Gadomski

Custom Fitting A Box To House An Object

Our library collections hold books, but also other three-dimensional objects. These items (and even the books) are not always regular shapes that fit into commercially made housing. Sometimes we need to either build a box from scratch or adapt a purchased box to house these items. For example in 2012, we created housing for a collection of canes that required some adaptation to their rectangular boxes. There are many ways to adapt a box to hold objects, and a variety of materials can be used: Ethafoam, Volara, archival corrugated board, Tyvek, archival tissue paper, among others.

Recently a wooden cross from World War One needed special attention to house it safely. I documented the steps I took to adapt a commercially made box and have included a diagram to illustrate the mathematics of the interior boxes.

I started with a commercially purchased box that was slightly larger in all dimensions than the item.

My goal was to create a recess for the cross within the box by making interior boxes of archival corrugated board.

These interior corrugated boxes are designed to fill empty space to create the recess. They are glued shut and maintain stability by including a top (as well as a bottom), though the top isn’t strictly necessary. I calculated and constructed them based on the methods used in Andrea Krupp’s great instructions for the corrugated clamshell box, which I learned from Hedi Kyle.

When designing these interiors keep in mind where and how the item is stored (horizontally or vertically), how frequently it is handled, and how it can be removed from the box.

To create the interior corrugated boxes here are the steps I took.

1) With the cross in place, I measured the four quadrants of empty space on the box bottom. I subtracted ¼ inch from the length and ¼ inch from the width of each of those rectangles (this gives some breathing room to the cross for removal). Using the dimensions of the box bottom I adjusted my calculations so the two boxes on the left side were equivalent to the boxes on the right side boxes (as mirrored pairs). This simplified things by requiring only two sizes of boxes. I now had the length (L) and width (W) measurements. I then measured the large outer box depth for the thickness (TH) measurement. This should be very slightly lower than the box side, but keep in mind any additional layers of material (Volara, paperwork, etc.) that need to go over the top before the lid goes on and account for that in your thickness measurement.

Consulting the diagram I have drawn out while reading further might be useful.

Definitions used on the diagram:

L = length
W = width
TH = thickness
BT = board thickness
Solid lines = cut
Dotted lines = score/fold
Grey areas = cut away/remove
Tab = 1 inch

I chose to create a 1-inch tab for gluing my box together. Smaller boxes could certainly be made with thinner tabs.

Using my measurements (L,W,TH) and 1/8 inch archival corrugated board, I cut a rectangular board based on these formulas:

Height of board = 2TH + 2L + 1Tab + [4BT or 1”]

Width of board = 2TH + 1W + 2Tab + [3BT or 1”]


2) Then using the cutting and folding diagram I measured and drew out my box onto the board and cut.

A few tips:

Start measuring and marking lines from the same square corner (both horizontally and vertically).

It is easier to bend with the corrugations so keep that in mind when choosing which way to orient the board, though either way does work.

I used a scrap of board as a jig to mark my BT (board thickness) as I drew these lines out. You could laminate multiple pieces of board together to create a jig for easier measuring.

As you see on the diagram I have added a board thickness to each dimension (W, L, TH) to account for the walls and folds. I didn't add the board thickness to the three most exterior tabs since those tabs needn't be a precise size.

3) Once the box is cut out gently score the lines with a bone folder, and fold them up. Then the tabs need to be delaminated before gluing them down.

This board is made of three layers: flat paper, corrugated paper, and then another layer of flat paper. The corrugated paper in the middle of the tabs will be cut away and the two flat layers will be glued to the adjacent side, one on the interior and one on the exterior making for a strong and square attachment. You will be separating seven tabs: the four to create the box bottom and the three to attach the top to the sides.

4) Gently using a microspatula and/or an awl separate the layers.

You can also gently use your hands to pull these layers apart once you get them started.

5) When they are separated carefully bend the flat layers aside and cut the corrugated piece away.

6) Lay waste paper under the two tabs and apply glue, then fold up the side to create the 3D box and press into place. Do this to all sides of the box creating the box bottom.

7) Now prior to gluing down the top cut away two small areas in the interior tab coming off the top.

This will allow the tab to set inside the box without hitting the interior side tabs. Glue up all interior tabs (even though they may not adhere) and the exterior tab coming off the box top. Close box and press. Then glue up the remaining exterior tabs on the two sides and press.

Here are the first two boxes in place to check the fit.

After the four corrugated boxes were made, I set them within the big box. I checked the fit of the cross within the space to make sure all was as it should be. Then I cut Volara to fit into the recess so the cross was laying on something softer than the board. The friction between the Volara and the cross helps hold the object in place.

8) Once the parts were cut, assembled, and the fit tested, I first glued the corrugated boxes, then the Volara, into the box bottom with PVA.

I weighed down the corrugated boxes to ensure good adhesion.

After everything was dry the cross went into its new housing ready for the shelf.

Interior compartments can be constructed in all sorts of ways and materials. They can be adapted for use in basic or deluxe boxes. This is one method, and if you have another you would like to share, we’d love to hear it!


Written by Stephanie Wolff