Museums & Attractions

Mark Brown studies the folder of Inland Revenue taxation stamps. He removes the top sheet of 200 stamps from the binder in which it was pasted 90 years before, cleans it and then checks which stamps are coming away from their neighbours. Taking a scalpel , he slices off a sliver of fibrous acid-free Japanese paper, which he coats in wheat starch paste and uses to bridge the break in the perforation. He repeats the process with each stamp threatening to come loose, before sliding the sheet into a polyester sleeve and placing it an archival box. He returns to the original binder and starts the process again. He will do this for every one of the 200 sheets of stamps in the book, and for every one of the 60 books in the series. Mark Brown has been working on this project for six months and he’s not done yet, not by a long shot.

Perseverance and patience are key attributes for those who work in the British Library conservation department. These were also the qualities that ensured the Centre for Conservation got built in May 2007. Previously, the conservation department was spread across three inappropriate London sites.
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‘The sites at the British Museum, the Newspaper Library in Colindale and on the sixth floor of the British Library were unfit for purpose,’ says John Mumford, head of book conservation. ‘We had no control over environmental conditions, there were security issues and our expertise was spread too thin.’

The new Centre of Conservation boasts a small exhibition space allowing the public to see what conservation demands. The first step is to identify the appropriate method. Brown explains that each project presents new problems for which new solutions need to be sought – the problem-solving and testing aspect of the job that comes before the actual conserving can be the most rewarding.

The new building has improved working conditions considerably. In consultation, the conservators asked for natural but not direct sunlight – the windows, all equipped with UV filters, deflect the light into the studio. ‘We couldn’t work on these items before,’ Brown explains, ‘the moisture made the glue on the stamps curl up and the direct sunlight affected the ink.’

The workspace is clean and climate-controlled – lab conditions enlivened by ancient tools and the extraordinary wealth of items that are being worked upon.

The conservators come from a variety of backgrounds. ‘Some have a craft training, some have degrees in conservation but internal people like myself will have had a five-year apprenticeship with the museum,’ says Mumford. ‘That gives us a complete range of skills from traditional craft to analytical skills.’

The 54 conservators are split into six teams. ‘We construct teams to include people with backgrounds in all the different skills,’ says Mumford. ‘Some people are better at some things than others – finishing with gold leaf, for instance, is a technical ability and it’s a skill you either have or you haven’t.’

Mumford demonstrates this art, taking a book cover and some 24-carat gold leaf, which he mixes with egg white,vaseline and perspiration. ‘It’s a lovely traditional technique,’ says Mumford, wiping sweat from his brow to get the requisite glaze.

Such talents are now on public display, thanks to tours that allow 20 people a week to get a close look at what takes place in this atmosphere of furrow-browed concentration. ‘Conservators love being on display because they’re chuffed that the public are genuinely interested in what they’re doing,’ says Mumford. That it gives them a break from those pesky taxation stamps can’t hurt either.

See all events at the British Library

www.bl.uk/conservation