Comments on: How Many Museum Employees Does It Take… http://blog.metmuseum.org/penandparchment/2009/08/04/how-many-museum-employees-does-it-take/ Mon, 20 May 2013 12:08:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Melanie Holcomb http://blog.metmuseum.org/penandparchment/2009/08/04/how-many-museum-employees-does-it-take/comment-page-1/#comment-142 Melanie Holcomb Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:18:40 +0000 http://blog.metmuseum.org/penandparchment/?p=1101#comment-142 Very observant, Martin. You are right--we did not use gloves when we were strapping the books. While there is discussion among manuscripts conservators about whether gloves are needed when consulting a manuscript, most feel that when strapping a book direct touch is essential. It’s important to have a sense of the spring of the page and awareness of any irregularities in the folio. Thus, the overall safety of the book outweighs concerns about the very minor residue left by clean fingers. Very observant, Martin. You are right–we did not use gloves when we were strapping the books. While there is discussion among manuscripts conservators about whether gloves are needed when consulting a manuscript, most feel that when strapping a book direct touch is essential. It’s important to have a sense of the spring of the page and awareness of any irregularities in the folio. Thus, the overall safety of the book outweighs concerns about the very minor residue left by clean fingers.

]]> By: Martin http://blog.metmuseum.org/penandparchment/2009/08/04/how-many-museum-employees-does-it-take/comment-page-1/#comment-115 Martin Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:47:14 +0000 http://blog.metmuseum.org/penandparchment/?p=1101#comment-115 Fascinating -- Thanks for this insider's look! I'm surprised, though, that the conservator in the pictures appears to be handling the manuscript pages without wearing any kind of gloves. Do skin oils not pose any risks to the parchment? Fascinating — Thanks for this insider’s look!
I’m surprised, though, that the conservator in the pictures appears to be handling the manuscript pages without wearing any kind of gloves. Do skin oils not pose any risks to the parchment?

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