AIC's 52nd Annual Meeting

When evaluating a book for treatment that has detached boards or other structural problems with board attachment, it is often preferable to conserve the original structure as much as possible by reattaching the boards as a functional part of the binding. However, in some cases where the original boards are badly damaged, lost, or otherwise unable to be reattached, new boards must be incorporated.

Finding or creating new boards has been a challenge for many conservators, especially with early printed books and manuscripts, as commonly available commercially made boards are dense, heavy, and have a smooth surface that can seem incongruous with the idiosyncratic character of the text block. This poster will highlight a relatively new product called ABM Board (first marketed in 2020) that captures the weight and feel of pre-19th century pulp boards, has excellent workability and versatility, and harmoniously incorporates principles of sustainability in its production. Two treatments of books from the University of Notre Dame’s Rare Books and Special Collections will be presented that demonstrate how ABM Board was employed effectively to recreate historic binder’s board. Information on the development and making of the board gained from interviews I conducted with the three producers of the board will also be included. Likewise, photographs of the making of the boards in Andrea’s studio and in-process treatment photographs will be included in the poster.

The University of Notre Dame’s Analog Preservation and Conservation department visited local papermaker Andrea Peterson’s studio in Laporte, Indiana in November 2022, where I first learned of her handmade ABM Board. Essentially a thick sheet of handmade paper, ABM Board has many of the characteristics of early pulp boards, is composed of sustainable materials (recycled, acid-free off-cuts from an archival products supplier), and is affordably priced. Retailed by Mary Uthuppuru of Colophon Book Arts, Andrea Peterson’s ABM board was developed in collaboration with bookbinder and toolmaker Brien Beidler in an effort to recreate the highly textured boards found in pre-industrial book bindings. After visiting Andrea Peterson, I kept an eye out for opportunities to use her ABM Board in upcoming treatments, and I have used it twice this year on books from Notre Dame’s collections: the rebinding of a 15th century manuscript and the rebinding of a large early 19th century gradual. In each instance ABM Board was selected because of the thickness of board required, the ability to manipulate the board through sanding and lamination, its light weight and strength, and the surface quality of the boards transmitted through the books’ different covering materials. These treatments serve to show the working properties of ABM Board and its suitability for use in a special collections conservation setting.