ROOTS & BRANCHES

There are times when the good news is finding a family artifact is still around—but the bad news is its fragility.

That’s the situation Keith Crownover of Hollidaysburg finds himself in. “I read your column in the Altoona Mirror and I was wondering if you could help me with what is probably a common problem,” he wrote. “I was recently visiting an aunt who mentioned a family Bible.” 

He said the copyright on the Bible was from 1892 and says “it is in decent shape but very fragile.”

Finding the Bible might be enough to make any genealogist’s day, but Crownover’s story gets even better.

“Inside I found my great-grandparents’ marriage certificate from 1893.  It, too, is fragile and has torn in some places where it has been folded for decades. I would like to preserve this document.  Do you have any tips as to the type of glass, framing, etc.?” Crownover asked.

For the short-run preservation of the certificate, Crownover’s taken the first vital step: Unfolding it. If left folded, what he describes as “torn in some places” eventually would become torn in all places.

That’s because documents from this time period—which is described as the “bad paper era” because more and more acid was used in paper from roughly 1850 to 1950—are more susceptible to decay than those before or after.

As far framing, the current trend is to recommend not framing the original since light will not be its friend; instead, have a high-resolution digital print made and frame that.

It also might be a good idea to have the certificate evaluated for deacidification to prevent its further decay (more about that after we talk about the Bible).

“The Bible itself has a hard leather cover with brass buckle/snaps to keep it closed,” Crownover said. “A page appeared to come loose when I opened the Bible so I am concerned as to how secure the pages and binding would be after all of these years. I would also appreciate any thoughts on the Bible itself. My first thought is to just allow it to be, as is, but what value is there to such an heirloom if it is only to be looked at while closed?”

Crownover has hit upon the conundrum for many such items: What’s best for preservation conflicts with display and enjoyment.

An unanswered question is whether—other than the loose certificate—there is family information that was handwritten into the Bible. If so, then high-resolution copies should be made of the pages with writing (ask people with Bibles who didn’t do this and know are finding the ink has so badly faded that the inscriptions can’t be read!)

For both deacidification (which might apply to both the certificate and the Bible) as well as rehabilitating the binding of the Bible, I can personally recommend Wert Bookbinding in Grantville, Dauphin County, since I’ve used them with success in several projects and know of others with similarly good experiences.