Assessing the Early American Imprints Collection

FAIN: PG-50766-10

New Hampshire State Library (Concord, NH 03301)
Janet R. Eklund (Project Director: May 2009 to January 2012)

A preservation survey of early American imprints consisting of approximately 850 New Hampshire and colonial imprints of the 16th through the 19th centuries, item-level examination of selected volumes, and the purchase of protective enclosures as recommended by the consultant.

The New Hampshire State Library is requesting $6,000 to hire a book conservation consultant from the Northeast Document Conservation Center to conduct a collection level preservation assessment of its special collection of 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th century books printed by New Hampshire printers and by colonial and pre-colonial European printers. In 2002, a NEH Preservation Assistance Grant funded a general collection preservation assessment to help the state library develop its current preservation plan. This survey identified the state library's New Hampshire and colonial imprints collections as a priority for a collection specific assessment. The consultant will conduct a two-day on-site survey of the state library's 850 brittle books and pamphlets contained in this special collection that are printed before the 20th century. She will examine the ways the books are stored and utilized in addition to documenting the condition of each item in a written report.

Associated Products

Survey Report on pre-1830 bound imprints at the NH State Library (Report)
Title: Survey Report on pre-1830 bound imprints at the NH State Library
Author: Debra Wender
Abstract: Ms. Wender spent four days in November 2010 examining approximately 550 monographs, pamphlets, and serials. The goal of the survey was to assess the physical and chemical stability of bound materials in the collections and to make recommendations for the preservation and conservation of individual objects as well as for the bound collection as a whole.The volumes examined were selected from two discreet collections and included early New Hampshire imprints and volumes in the Library’s Rare Book Collection. Materials in the two collections were transferred to the Library from other collections, acquired by gift, or purchased. The majority of volumes examined are monographs or pamphlets, but a few serials, government documents, a record book and several documents were examined as well.
Date: 02/04/2011

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