Whether it be a family photo, a favorite book, or an artwork, document, map, or book with significant cultural or historical significance, we give each item the same high level of professional care with great emphasis on its intended use and purpose, while remaining as minimally invasive as possible.

We discuss your goals for treatment, and provide you with an estimate based on a preliminary examination. We can also provide a range of treatment options and estimates if you are unsure about your goals or budget, to help you be fully informed of your options.

What we treat:

We treat a wide variety of bound and non-bound items on paper, parchment, and vellum from any time period, including:

• Artworks: drawings (graphite, ink, pastel, charcoal, etc.), prints, watercolor paintings, posters, blueprints

• Books: paper, leather, and cloth bindings

• Documents: printed, typed, handwritten, or a mix

• Photographs: paper-based, including convex crayon enlargements

• Maps: printed or hand-drawn, including paper maps backed with fabric linings

• Ephemera: newspapers, magazines, flyers, postcards, brochures, small pamphlets, hand-bills, clippings

• Scrapbooks and Albums

Treatment services:

• Surface cleaning: removal of visible dirt, dust, or soot on the surface of paper

• Mending: repairing tears and losses

• Binding repair: can include re-sewing broken text blocks, relining the text block spine, repairing loose cover joints, and/or reattaching existing covers

• Rebacking: replacing the spine of a book

• Rebinding: usually in cases of a missing or extremely deteriorated original binding

• Tape removal

• Custom preservation enclosures: custom boxes, folio bindings, and protective sleeves

  (Find out more about our Preservation Services)

Our Process

We believe in transparency and open communication with our clients. Here is a brief summary of our process for conservation treatment:

1. Consultation & Estimate

We discuss your artifact with you and what your goals are. We then examine your artifact and provide a brief condition report, treatment proposal, and estimate based on your goals. We answer any questions you might have about the condition, proposed treatment, and estimate.

2. Approval & First Invoice

Once the treatment proposal and estimate are agreed upon, we will issue an invoice for 25% of the estimate to be paid before treatment begins. Once we receive payment, we begin treatment.

3. Treatment Completed

After we complete treatment, we create a final treatment report with documentation photographs of your artifact before and after treatment, as well as the details of what work was completed and what materials we used on your artifact.

4. Final Invoice & Return

When treatment is complete, we will issue the final invoice based on the exact time and materials costs. Once final payment is received, we will return your artifact and the documentation of treatment for your records. This documentation will include the final treatment report, along with before and after photographs of your item.

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