Wichita eagle., 1886-09-11
CLEANING OLD BOOKS.
Rare Books Restored to Their F0rme
Beauty by a Secret Chemical Process.

Rare Books Restored to Their Former
Beauty by a Secret Chemical Process.
William, Book-cleaner and Re-
storer,' is the sign on the door in a
dingy room IN Nassau street. The
room, as usual thing. contains only
two tables, two chairs, some glass
trays, o number of bottles and an i'm
mense pile of books of all sizes and
ages.
Mr. Burkitt,a weakened little old man,
of English birth, enjoys the reputation
of being the best book-cleaner and re-
storer in this city.
In convarsation with reporter he
said:
s. 1t is far better never to have valu-
able work retouched than to have it
badly cleaned, for an imperfectly
washed book contains seeds that will
sooner or later cause it's destruction.
There are very few good cleaners, for
the reason that each one has peculiar
method of working, which he keeps
secret, and so the knowledge is confined
to very small number
When / get book which requires
cleaning l remove the cover, cut the
stitches and divide the work into
sheets. l then pick out those sheets
Which are merely dirty, and separate
them from those which have stains CT
ink. oil, or any of the many stains
which fall to the lot Of books.
"Thcse that are simply dirty I place
in bath composed OF half o pound Of
chloride of lime and the same GU nifty of
soda To a iul Quart of water. In this
bath allow them to soak until all dis
celebration has died away and the paper
has reeained its proper tint
"Wher this change takes place, re-
move TIE leaves with the greatest care
and lift them into q bnth Of running
cold water In this bath allow them
to remain from six to twelve hours.
This removes all trace of the lime
which, if allowed to remain, would in
time rot and destroy the leaves.
After taking the leaves from this
second bath, leave them to thorough
II dry on that flannel covered table.
Then 1 immerse them in bath of size
and water, and again dry them well.
After that they are pressed between
glazed boards over night, and that
finishes the job.
g II the sheets are oil-stained, dilute
spirits of salts with five times its bulk
of water and allow the oil-staiIed sheets
to soak for four minutes, after which
they must be treated to . thorough
bath Of cold water.
Ito remove ink stains use q solution
OF oxalic acid. but great care should be
exercised il the after washing with cold
water.
IF the grease is mere spot on the
leaf, place TIE page between two sheets
of hl0ttinS-p2per and press hot iron
over the place. This inclts tie grease,
which is absorbed by the blotting-
pancr.
= When the grease is removed in
this way paint the spot with . little
heated .urpentine on camel s-hair
brush. Should the paper, a. IS prob
ali isse is color ;lrri,, this one-s-
ton Jhen press the place with Z very
iil,a handkerchief soaked II heated
spin, cf wine and Tie color VIII re-
tCr.;.
tInger-narks are very annoying.
The best way to remove them l know
Of Is to cover them with 8 piece of
clean yellow soap, which you can allow
to remain for three hours. Then wash
with q sponge and hot water. after
which the page should be dipped in
weak acid and water Give another
Datn or moi wafer. tilorv.,,, My cleanse
in cold water and dry.
"In the case OF vellum covers, If
they are not too dirty they cen be
cleaned with good soap, hot water and
o spoLge. If they are ver- dirty use
not too strong solution of spirits of
lemon and water.
There are many other points in the
profession which would be useless to
an amateur. and to successfully
practice which one must possess years
of experience and unbending patience.
IN. Y. Mail and Express