On Tuesday, August 29, 2017, at 1:30 pm in the Library of Congress James Madison Memorial Building, Andrew Davis (Chemist, Preservation Research and Testing Division, Library of Congress) will present the lecture: Centuries of Cellulose: Lessons Learned from the Molecular Analysis of Cellulose in Aged Paper Collections.
In the mid-1900s, paper chemist William J. Barrow undertook an ambitious study of 1,000 books printed from the 16th through 20th centuries, meticulously measuring their chemical and physical properties and offering systematic predictions of paper aging and permanence. These same test books now reside in the Library of Congress’s Center for the Library’s Analytical Scientific Samples. This talk will present results using advancements in scientific tools to reassess and measure Barrow’s same sample books anew. In particular, new micro-invasive tools provide the ability to quantify the degradation effects of aging, enabling new insights and mathematical methods for minimally-destructive paper material analysis.
For more information and to register for the webcast,
please visit http://www.loc.gov/
