CHAPTER II

REMOVING STAINS

Translated From Bonnardot

VELLUM BINDINGS
(1674 AND 1878)

Before discussing the means of attacking stains which may blemish a book or a precious print, I am going to say that, in certain cases, it might be very desirable to allow them to remain. If I possessed, for example, a missive addressed to Charles IX during the night of Saint Bartholomew, and stained with bloody finger-prints, I would take great care not to disturb these marks which, supposing their authenticity established, would increase tenfold the value of the autograph. If the custodian of the Laurentian Library at Florence should efface, from his Longus manuscript, Paul Louis Courier’s puddle of ink, he would commit an act of vandalism, for that ink stain is a literary celebrity.[2]

To speak of more ordinary examples: one often finds on a book or print, a signature or inscription which may sometimes be an autograph well worth preservation.[3] I very rarely efface signatures or the notes of early, unknown owners; I find it pleasanter to respect these souvenirs of the past. In the same way, some curious objects have certain defects which, I think, add to their interest. For example, a statuette of the Virgin, in silver or ivory, of which the features and hands are half effaced by the frequent contact of pious lips. Restore such worn parts, and the sentiment is stripped from a relic of past ages. It is far better to leave untouched such scars, which attest the antique piety of the cloister. A vellum Book of Hours of the Fifteenth Century, worn and soiled through prayer, has, to my mind, acquired a venerable patina. Here, a spot of yellow wax; there, the head of a saint blemished by the star-print from a tear of devotion: are not these stains which should be respected? On the other hand, a blot of ink or an oily smear point only to carelessness and should be removed.

About the year 1846, I was invited by M. A. Farrens, a skilful restorer of old books, to see in his work-shop a Dance Macabre in quarto, imprinted on paper, at Paris, toward the end of the Fifteenth Century; a rare volume which he was restoring for M. Techner.

The portions already cleaned and restored, compared with those still untouched, excited my admiration. The numerous worm holes, the torn places, had disappeared through an application of paper-paste, so well joined, so well blended in the mass, that I could hardly detect the boundaries of the restorations. The letters and wood-cuts suffering from lacunae had been reformed with great skill on a new foundation. The soiled surfaces of the pages had entirely disappeared before I know not what scraping or chemical action. In a word, M. Farrens was putting into use every secret of restoration to give again to this volume its original lustre.

Ah well! today, I confess, that if I possessed this book in the dilapidated state in which I saw it, I would leave it just as it stood, and limit myself to the indispensable repair of a new and solid binding. Its worn and soiled condition came, very probably, from the frequent and pious turning of its pages, in that monachal perseverance of prayer of which our century knows nothing. Its shocking and decrepit condition had, to my eyes, a secret in harmony with all books of the kind, which, from each page, recall to us our insignificance.

No doubt many amateurs will not agree with me in this; some, perhaps, will declare I have arrived at a monstrous degree of cynicism for a bibliophile. However, I will supply the means of restoring at least a part of their original freshness to books and old prints badly treated by time or by the indifference of their earlier possessors.

When a print is soiled with spots or foreign color, especially in the most interesting places, one can hardly lay it away in a portfolio without making some attempt to remove or reduce the strange tints which appear on it. This is the part of my present work most difficult to discuss, while being the most useful. My simple notions of chemistry are not always sufficient and perhaps, some day, some chemist especially trained in analysis and decomposition may, with advantage, rewrite this portion of my work. I will at least record, however, a large number of satisfactory results which I have obtained and even repeated on fragments of proofs on unsized paper, this last being the most unfavorable of all conditions.[4]

The first difficulty comes when the nature of the spot is not easily recognized. This yellow spot which resists both washing and bleaching, may perhaps be formed by some greasy body or by some metallic oxide, and one must proceed carefully on any hypothesis which may be formed. In such cases, where experiments must be tried, it is necessary to know some chemical substance which can be first applied, to the end that, if the spot persists, the chemicals used in attempting its removal will not, at least, render it impervious to further efforts. It is not possible to set positive rules for this. I have tried indifferently the action of an acid before that of an alkali, and vice versa. Only, I have been careful, before renewing any experiments to soak the print for several hours in cold water to stop the action of any chemicals already used and to annul their traces and effects.

The first attempt to make upon a spot of unknown origin, is to soak the print for several hours in cold water and then rub the spot gently with a finger or a small brush. It sometimes happens, especially when the paper has been well made and well sized, that the spot will yield to this gentle rubbing, slide off and disappear. When the spot becomes thick and pasty, it is at least weakened even if it does not come off. This is, in any case, a necessary first operation. But it should be carried out with care, in order not to injure the surface of the print. Before soaking a print in water or chemicals, it is best to clip a few small shreds from the margin and soak these in a small glass test-tube to note the effect.[5]

It sometimes happens that there appears on a page or print a single spot which it is desirable to remove without going to the trouble and risk of soaking the whole sheet. A spot on the corner offers few obstacles; the part is simply dipped in a vessel containing the proper solution. If the spot is in the middle of the sheet, I usually make use of a shallow porcelain cup having sides slanted in toward the centre, such as is used for water-colors. By means of such a cup, any part of a sheet can be brought into contact with the solution. The chemical may also be applied directly to the spot by means of a small brush.

M. de Fontelle advises the use of blotting paper from which a hole, a little larger than the spot, has been cut. This is placed over the spot and the chemical liquid dropped in. The blotter around the spot will absorb the excess liquid without offering any obstacle to the operation.

In operations upon single spots, the action of the chemicals always extends a little beyond the spot itself and often leaves a bleached line which is in disagreeable contrast with the other parts of the sheet. This may be retinted with dark licorice or some suitable color in more or less concentrated solution, mixed sometimes with a little common ink. This is applied with a small brush, care being taken not to overlap the solution on the unbleached portion of the sheet beyond the bleached line.[6]

REMOVING STAINS OF VARIOUS KINDS

GREASE. Grease spots, especially when very recent, can sometimes be drawn out by an absorbent powder such as impalpable clay or chalk. The spotted leaf is enclosed between two tins or boards, both sides of the spot well dusted with the powder, and the book closed tightly and set aside for several hours. Some kinds of grease absorb more slowly than others. If this operation is unsuccessful, alcohol, ether or benzine may be tried.[7] A weak solution of pure or caustic potash operates very rapidly. If the ink on the page or print is turned gray by this, it may be restored by a wash of acid in very weak solution.

WHITE OF YELLOW WAX. These spots yield promptly to pure turpentine, especially in a warm bath. When the spots thicken, they are lifted off with a scraper, or blotting paper may be applied, pressed down with a heated iron.

STEARINE. Wax tapers are today replaced by a kind of liquid grease, stearine, spots of which give paper a disagreeable transparency. These dissolve in warm alcohol or boiling water, but the spot remains stiff and the brilliance of the ink is reduced. The greater part of the stearine spot may be removed by the same process indicated for wax.

SEALING WAX. RESIN AND RESINOUS VARNISH. All dry resins yield to a warm alcohol bath. The thick part is removed as above. Sealing wax colored red, blue, etc., leaves a corresponding tint which is very tenacious.

TAR, PITCH, etc. These spots are rarely encountered. They give way to warm turpentine or cold benzine. If a dark trace remains, it sometimes may be removed by oxalic acid if the spot has not been burned by the hot tar. Whenever turpentine is used on any spots, it should always be the purest obtainable.

EGG YELLOW. This is always mixed with a little albumen, a matter which thickens in boiling water and can be drawn from the paper, along with the yellow. If the paper is smooth and well sized, all will disappear under a sponge in a bath of hot water. There sometimes remains a yellowish trace. To remove this, apply with a brush chlorated lime and then very weak hydrochloric acid.

MUD. This may be removed simply with a wet sponge or in a warm water bath. Where the paper is rough and absorbent, soap jelly should be used. If a dark trace remains, it usually will yield to oxalic acid or cream of tartar.

INK. Ordinary writing ink is easily decomposed because its principal constituent is a vegetable matter, oakgall, mixed with a little iron oxide. This gives way rather promptly to an application of sorrel salt dissolved in boiling water. The water must be boiling to secure prompt action. Even better success may be obtained by the use of pure oxalic acid, which is an extraction from sorrel salt of which it is the base.[8] Chinese ink cannot be dissolved but sometimes may be washed from a smooth page by means of a damp sponge. Marking ink may be removed with chloride of lime.

FRUIT JUICE. Stains from fruit may be removed by chlorine or cream of tartar. In some cases, water alone is sufficient.

BLOOD. These stains may be bleached by chloride of lime. As this must be applied for at least twenty minutes, it is better to use it as a damp paste. There will remain a yellow trace which will give way to a weak acid.

FECAL MATTERS OR URINE. For such spots, try soap and water. If this is unsuccessful try successively chlorine, alkalis, oxalic acid and hydrochloric acid, soaking the page for an hour in water between each operation.

TRANSFERRED IMPRESSIONS. Frequently the characters of a book, bound before the ink is completely dry, offset, while in press, an impression in grayish tones upon the opposite pages or upon the faces of inserted prints. These transferred impressions may sometimes be removed by rubbing with an eraser made of bread crumbs or by soap-jelly, which should be left on for some time and then washed off.

I have no doubt neglected to describe more than one kind of spot which an amateur may find. By analogous reasoning, however, he may find for himself the proper remedies to use. If the spot seems to be of a vegetable or animal nature, he should use chlorine and sulfuric acid; if metallic, diluted hydrochloric acid; if oily or greasy, essence of turpentine, ether, alkaline solutions or benzine.

BLEACHING.[9] Soaking a print in cold water for about twenty-four hours often suffices to brighten and clear it; but if, after a long soaking, it still remains darkened to the point of detracting from the clarity of the engraving, one will need to use chemicals in order to obtain a suitable bleaching. Chloride of lime may be used for this purpose. This is a fine, dry powder which softens when allowed to absorb moisture from the atmosphere. About fifty grammes of this are placed in a bottle about two-thirds full of water, and thoroughly shaken. When the solution clears by the excess of matter depositing on the bottom of the bottle, the clear liquid is carefully poured off. Another solution, which will be weaker, may be made by pouring more water into the bottle. The clear solution is diluted with about twenty times its quantity of pure water, for use. It is better to dilute too much, and add more of the solution later, if necessary, than to dilute too little. The solution will not injure the black ink of an impression, but if too concentrated, it will make the paper brittle.

After using this solution, the print should be placed in a bath of weak acid, and then left to soak for several hours in clear water.