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Triumph Comics # 1- To Conserve or NOT to Conserve

Started by eccomic,

30 posts in this topic

eccomic

eccomic

Posted
Posted

Hi All:

 

I am seriously considering conserving/restoring my beloved Triumph Comics # 1 (1st Apperance of Nelvana of the Northern Lights):

 

Triumph2FCLowRes_zps941383ce.jpg

Triumph1BCHighRes_zpscca468e8.jpg

 

The cover is delicate with 4 pieces of tape and the interior pages are brittle on the edges.

 

I happen to own a gorgeous coverless copy with supple creamy off-white pages.

 

I may have the option of having the cover removed from the brittle interior and than restored and married onto my supple paged interior.

 

I want to conserve this book for posterity, and in its present state it is delicate and I loath handling it due to its fragility. Conserving the book would preserve the structrual integrity moving forward for generations. This book is extremely rare and important, with only 3 known copies extant, including my copy. My quandry is do I conserve it, or leave it as is to eventually disintegrate. (shrug)

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :wishluck:

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sfcityduck

sfcityduck

Posted
Posted

If this were fine art collecting, or you were looking at the document just for its historical value, it would be an absolute no brainer to have a qualified document conservationist preserve this wonderful book.

 

The notion that you would risk the integrity of the document because of the biases of the present market of comic book collectors seems foolish. With a book of this rarity and historical value, condition shouldn't matter on resale (if that is a big concern), and it is far better to have the book preserved for the future instead of risking long-term destructionfor short-term gain.

 

You are the curator of this book. I would vote you conserve it.

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cheetah

cheetah

Posted
Posted

Those front cover tears are pretty severe and will only get worse unless handled with extreme care. Tear seals would seem like a pretty good idea if you plan to handle much in the future. Personally, I don't think I would marry the cover to another book.

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eccomic

eccomic

Posted
  • Author
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Looks like it was fully restored...?

 

That is correct:

 

Triumph Adventure Comics #1

 

Staples removed from interiors of Copy A

Staples removed from interiors of Copy B

Cover of copy A dry-cleaned

Adhesive tape removed from cover of copy A

Humidification and pressing of interiors of Copy B

Torn areas of the cover repaired and/or reinforced

Missing areas of the cover infilled

Missing and/or damaged areas inpainted

Inpainted areas reglossed to match original coating

Cover and interiors refolded

 

Marriage and reassembly of interiors of Copy B to cover of Copy A

 

 

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FFB

FFB

Posted
Posted

I could not disagree more. There are ways to conserve brittle interiors now. Whoever did the work on this book obviously doesn't know how to do that, and the choice to abandon the original interior and marry the cover to another interior shows that. What a shame. :facepalm:

 

Let this be a lesson to anyone who has a rare book that needs conservation. Talk to everyone who does this kind of work before making a decision. Make sure the best person is doing the job.

 

Good call Stephen… in this case, it seems like the marriage of the cover/interiors was the way to go.
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