Clean sheets

Last week we were happy to see the return of Carmichael Watson documents which had been enjoying some tlc in the Conservation Department. Over the past 18 months, Mariko Watanabe, a postgraduate student, has, in her spare time, been cleaning, repairing and re-housing the 300 sheets of paper which make up Coll-97/CW244/1-200, under the watchful eye of Ruth Honeybone, conservator for the Lothian Health Services Archive. These documents are transcriptions of secular songs collected by Alexander Carmichael and include Brochan Lom, A' Bhanais Spòrsail, Mac Mo Rìgh air Tìr an Alba and Tàladh Cuain, amongst a multitude of others [refs. Coll-97/CW244/59/1, /79b, /107b and /181]. Ruth tells us that the work the manuscripts required was ideal for training in paper repair. Well there's plenty more where that came from!

Mariko returns the newly conserved manuscripts to Kirsty at "Carmichael Corner".

Mariko is now heading off to West Dean College in Sussex to train as a book conservator and we want to express our sincerest thanks to her (and to Ruth) for all the work she has put into preserving these precious papers and wish her all the best at West Dean. Beannachd leat, a Mhariko!

Exhibition open: “Unlocking the Celtic Collector”

Well, things are really getting hectic here in Carmichael corner. We are less than three weeks away from the conference (have you registered yet?) and concert (got your tickets?), there is tagging and cataloguing to finish, a website to complete, biographical records to write amongst other things and so it’s all systems go. At least we have now managed to tick one thing off our list. Our small exhibition on the life and work of Alexander Carmichael was installed on Tuesday 31 May and we are delighted to see it all in place in Special Collections’ display wall. It’s also good to see people taking time to look at the notebooks and pictures and read a bit about who Carmichael was.

As anyone who has ever curated an exhibition would tell you, there’s a lot more to getting it from idea to display case than meets the eye. Our captions and text panels were drafted by Domhnall Uilleam and Andrew; a large amount of practical expertise was given by Andrew Grout, Joe Marshall and Caroline Scharfenberg; the artwork and layout was designed by Iain Coates and David Roberts of Studio SP; the notebooks were conserved and made presentable with the combination of a National Manuscripts Conservation Trust Grant and Carronvale Bindery; and the exhibition was installed by Jenny Gypaki, Iain, David and Kirsty. Below are some photographs of the process of installation and in due course we will have impressive, official photographs, not my lowly attempts!

Of course, the best way to see the exhibition is to be there in person, which everyone is welcome to do. It is open from 1 June to 22 July 2011 and can be found in Special Collections, on the 6th Floor of Edinburgh University Library, George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9LJ. The Library is open seven days a week but times vary, so please check the website for details:

http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/services/library-museum-gallery/using-library/library-opening/main-library

There is also a café on the ground floor so you can add a tea, coffee or even a bun into your itinerary for the day.

Sincerest thanks to everyone who helped to put this exhibition together – we do hope that all our visitors enjoy it.

The trolley loaded up with exhibits, exhibition paraphernalia, and ready to go

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Empty cases waiting for decoration

The first exhibits in place and ready for captions, text panels and banners.



David and Jenny construct caption holders.

The printed banners are revealed - so much more impressive than on A4!

All in a day's work for Jenny, Iain and David.

  

The finished product as viewed by a phone snap.

Images: All photographs were taken by Kirsty Stewart, archivist,and belong to the Carmichael Watson Project.

Carmichael Watson Conservation Commences!

The present phase of the Carmichael Watson Project includes the beginnings of much needed conservation work. A number of Alexander Carmichael’s original field notebooks are currently under going conservation and preservation treatment and we are also lucky enough to welcome Mariko Watanabe to the project.

Mariko (a student on the University’s MSc Material Cultures course) has been volunteering in the Centre for Research Collections conservation studio since April. Working under the supervision of the Lothian Health Services Archive Paper Conservator, Mariko is treating a collection of manuscript notes of secular songs collected by Carmichael. The following is Mariko’s first blog update, but others will follow as the work progresses. 

So far, overall condition of the items has been checked, photographed and documented. There is no one item whose condition is exceptionally bad. Fortunately, none of the tears and losses are so big that we lose the transcribed songs and almost all of the text is still fairly legible.

However, dirt has accumulated on the surface of the papers and a number of small tears, creases and pin holes mean that this collection is fragile and may prevent researchers from using these materials comfortably. Metal pins and paper clips used to hold some sheets together have caused holes and rust damage to the surrounding area. In order to improve each item’s stability and ease of handling, we are going to repair these damaged sheets carefully without any loss of text.

After condition checking, surface cleaning began after training and some practice on non-collection items. Surface cleaning is carried out very gently using a soft-bristled brush, a chemical sponge and small slithers of Mars Staedtler eraser.

Once I have done some more cleaning, I will post photographs to show before and after the treatment.