Special Collections The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries Vol. XV III* No. 1 * Spring 2004

United States of America Compiled from the Latest & Best Authorities by John Melish. Published in Philadelphia by Murray Draper Fairman & Co., 1818.

In 1998, the Virginia Garrett Cartographic History Library (VGCHL) embarked on a multi-year project to inspect, evaluate, preserve, and conserve the maps and atlases in Special Collections. The venture eventually encompassed a grant proposal and award, the services of a trained conservator, the purchase of new equipment and preservation supplies, and the development of new procedures to ensure the orderly preservation of current and future acquisitions.

The project began as a review of the map and atlas donations of Mrs. Jenkins Garrett for integration into the collection. The materials had to be cataloged and housed for access by students, faculty, and community researchers. The examination of the physical condition of the materials was part of the acquisition process. An inspection of her collections pointed out the need for the review of the library’s other cartographic collections for possible treatment and repair.

Beginning with a comprehensive inspection of all the maps in the Virginia Garrett Cartographic History Library (VGCHL), the staff prepared a list of maps and atlases requiring either preservation work or conservation measures. Preservation could be accomplished in-house to surface clean, encapsulate, and house the maps and atlases appropriately. Materials needing conservation would require the services and specialized facilities of a trained conservator to test, wash, alkalize, remove and replace backing, and mend and repair the paper structure, among other treatments.

Maps targeted for conservation included a cross section of the items in the collection dating from 1690 to the early twentieth century. They depicted a variety of geographic areas, but focused mainly on the New World and the Greater Southwest area encompassing the lands surrounding the Gulf of Mexico and the American West and Southwest, including Texas. Although sheet maps and atlases needing treatment made up the majority of the materials, maps found in books and pamphlets, pocket maps, and maps incorporated within portfolios were also included in the project. Some of the works of the most famous mapmakers made the list as well, including Abraham Ortelius, Herman Moll, Henri Joutel, Stephen F. Austin, Richard S. Hunt & Jesse F. Randel, Jacob de Cordova, Randolph B. Marcy, Charles Pruess, the United States Corps of Topographical Engineers, John Disturnell, and Samuel Augustus Mitchell, among others.

It was apparent from the inspection that the cartographic materials had outgrown the resources of the day to day management of the collection and that a conservation-preservation grant would be needed to accomplish the task. A grant proposal requesting $15,000 was prepared by Gerald Saxon, Associate Director of Libraries, with the assistance of Kit Goodwin, Cartographic Archivist, and submitted to the Summerlee Foundation of Dallas. The grant was awarded in October 2000 to "preserve and treat sheet maps and atlases" at the VGCHL.

Gayle Young, book and paper conservator of Weatherford, Texas, was engaged for the project and work began immediately. Young met with Goodwin at the VGCHL initially to review the list and develop procedures and a method of evaluation. It was decided to work through the list systematically in a series of visits to minimize the number of maps and atlases removed to the conservation lab at any one time. On each subsequent visit, the two would select a group of maps or atlases for evaluation from the list, review the needs of each item, including the expected use by researchers, and determine which materials needed conservation and which ones needed preservation measures that could be performed in-house. Young would take the specified items to the lab, and Goodwin would proceed with the designated preservation work at Special Collections. The first group of maps selected for conservation was treated and returned to the library on April 1, 2001.

As with most projects of this magnitude, some changes in the procedures were made along the way. Early in the project, it was found that encapsulation and re-housing was the overwhelming preservation need of not only the maps on the designated list, but also other maps in the collection as well. Consequently, a Crossweld Sealing Machine, a type of electronic welder, along with additional rolls of polyester sheeting and large map-size acid free folders were purchased to facilitate encapsulating and re-housing of materials. In addition, the maps taken by Young for treatment, which initially included encapsulation, were returned to the library to undergo that process. This method provided some cost savings and allowed us to increase the number of maps and atlases that could be treated.

When maps were taken to the conservation lab, Young first tested each item and decided upon a specific treatment. All were examined for acidity of the paper and solubility of images. Treatment for the large majority of the maps began with washing or dry cleaning to remove dirt and stains, and then the items were alkalized to stabilize the paper. In addition, a few maps were exposed to controlled amounts of sunlight to lighten or remove more stubborn stains. Many of the materials required the removal and/or replacement of the backing medium to strengthen the paper as well. Removal of tape and adhesive by various methods was another treatment required by a large number of the items--a very labor intensive action. Almost all of the maps selected for conservation required some type of mending. In several cases, maps had separated into multiple pieces along the fold lines and had to be put back together to form a whole—a process like rebuilding a puzzle. In addition, seven of the most damaged and most used pocket maps were placed in conservation mats with the booklet stabilized within, backed with additional acid free matting and wrapped in polyester sheeting. This format allows researchers access to the maps without further damaging the paper by folding and unfolding it in the booklets.

Atlases, maps in books, pamphlets, and portfolios began their treatment with examination and testing as well, especially to determine the acidity of the paper and the solubility of the images. In addition, the bindings and spines were closely scrutinized for construction, strength, and flexibility. Covers were repaired and individual maps in atlases, books, or pamphlets that were separating from the spine were removed, treated, repaired, and returned to the books with the spines reinforced. In one instance, the conservation methodology gave us an unusual opportunity. The rare map depicting Robert Cavelier, sieur de la Salle’s voyage in Henri Joutel’s 1719 book, Mr. Joutel's journal of his voyage to Mexico: his travels eight hundred leagues through forty nations of Indians in Lovisiana to Canada: his account of the great river Missasipi. To which is added a map of that country; with a description of the great water-falls in the river Misouris was removed from the spine, mended and returned to the exact place in the spine. Before the map was replaced in the book, it was digitally scanned, then printed on acid free paper. The map copy was filed in the VGCHL with a reference noted in the book that a printed copy was available for study and research, thus saving the map from further damage caused by the repeated unfolding within the small, tightly bound book. In addition, we now have a digital copy of the map for future publishing needs, something that would have been damaging to do while the map was bound in the book.

Clason's Texas Green Guide with Toad and Railway Maps. Published by the Clason Map Company in Chicago in 1931.

A part of the conservation process for the treatment of the atlases included the creation of phase boxes for not only the fragile items selected, but also for a number of atlases not on the selected item list that were at risk for future damage. The boxes minimize the wear and tear to the large books, especially the older atlases. UTA contributed to the project when additional funds were found to provide phase boxes for a specified number of antiquarian atlases.

Among the atlas and book items selected for conservation treatment were the mid-nineteenth century atlases of Henry Teasdale, John Arrowsmith, A. Keith Johnston, and Pierre Lappie. Other noted publishers on the designated list included John Senex and his 1721 New General Atlas, as well as the twentieth century atlases of the George C. Cram Company and the early 1930s Texas road maps of Clason’s Green Guides.

The conservation project, with the support of the Summerlee Foundation, made a major contribution to the longevity of the cartographic materials housed in the VGCHL. The conservation of the maps and atlases took three years to complete with fifty-nine items receiving treatment and twenty-one phase boxes constructed. In addition, equipment and supplies were purchased to continue the retrospective encapsulation and housing of current materials, and the project instigated a review of policies and procedures for preservation and conservation issues of future acquisitions.

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This page last update on Wednesday, April 14, 2004