Loading…
This event has ended. Visit the official site or create your own event on Sched.
Back To Schedule
Wednesday, May 31 • 3:30pm - 4:00pm
028. (Book and Paper) Necessity is the mother of invention – DIY iron (II) test paper

Log in to save this to your schedule, view media, leave feedback and see who's attending!

Tweet Share
Conservators researching the effects of ethanol-modified washing and complexing solutions at the Library of Congress monitor ink-inscribed paper for iron (II) ions, an indicator of ink corrosion. Since commercially produced iron-gall ink test papers are available only as narrow strips, conservators developed a method to produce test papers in house by saturating filter paper with bathophenanthroline solution. The proposed poster will show how to make iron-gall ink test paper and how to use it effectively, including wetting up the paper prior to testing and maintaining contact between the indicator paper and the ink-inscribed areas.(1234)

(1) Jan Neevel, ” (Im)possibilities of the phytate treatment,” in Postprints of the Iron Gall Ink Meeting 2000, (Newcastle, UK: Conservation of Fine Art,University of Northumbria, 2001), 125-134.

(2) Elmer Eusman, "Aqueous treatment effects of iron gall ink: Monitoring iron migration with the Fe(II) indicator test,” in The Broad Spectrum: the art and science of conserving colored media on paper, ed. Harriet K. Stratis et al. (London: Archetype Publications Ltd, 2002), 122-127.

(3) Claire Dekle and Mary E. Haude, "Iron-gall ink treatment at the Library of Congress: old manuscripts--new tools, "The Book & Paper Group annual 27 (2008), 15-26.

(4) Jan Neevel and Birgit Reissland, Bathophenanthroline indicator paper: development of a new test for iron ions 2005, Papier Restaurierung 6, no.1 (2005), 31.
Speaker(s)
avatar for Cyntia Karnes-[PA]

Cyntia Karnes-[PA]

Paper Conservator, Art Gallery of Ontario
Cyntia Karnes is a Paper Conservator at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, Canada, where she also has a private conservation practice. Previously she was a Senior Paper Conservator at the Library of Congress, following positions at the National Gallery of Art in D.C., and the... Read More →
avatar for Yasmeen Khan

Yasmeen Khan

Head of Paper Conservation, Library of Congress
Yasmeen Khan is Head of Paper Conservation at the Library of Congress. She has a BA in Middle Eastern Studies from Barnard College, and an MLIS from the University of Texas with an Advanced Certificate in Conservation. In 1996 she began working for the Library of Congress, initially... Read More →

Co-Author(s)
avatar for Julie Biggs

Julie Biggs

Conservator, Library of Congress
Julie Biggs is a Senior Paper Conservator at the Library of Congress, where she has focused on treatment of manuscripts and works on paper, led iron-gall ink treatment research, and managed large-scale collection stabilization and re-housing projects. She previously worked as a senior... Read More →
avatar for Claire Dekle

Claire Dekle

Senior Book Conservator, Library of Congress
Claire Dekle is a Senior Book Conservator at the Library of Congress. Her experience as a conservation liaison to the Manuscript Division of the Library, as well as her treatment responsibilities, rekindled an early interest in the conservation of iron-gall ink. She was a member of... Read More →
avatar for Susan Peckham-[PA]

Susan Peckham-[PA]

Senior Paper Conservator, Library of Congress
Susan Peckham is a Senior Paper Conservator at the Library of Congress where she has worked for twelve years and enjoys acting as conservation liaison to the Prints and Photographs and Music Divisions. Previously, she worked for the National Archives and Records Administration, Smithsonian... Read More →
Wednesday May 31, 2017 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT
Riverside West Exhibit Hall Exhibit Level, East Tower
  9. Poster, Book and Paper

Attendees (60)