Considering the centuries ahead
A key component of the new Rees-Jones Library of the American West will be a conservation lab, where historical materials will be repaired and protected. To learn more about the painstaking process of safeguarding such treasures, members of the Friends of SMU Libraries Board met with conservator Jesse Hunt for a tour of Bridwell Library’s conservation lab, which has been in operation since the early 1990s. Hunt, who celebrated his 13th year with the University in March, pulled back the curtain on the interventions combining art and science to save rare books and documents from the ravages of time.
“What makes jobs like mine necessary is that many of our rarest collection items are already several centuries old. Many have seen better days, but the fact that they haven’t completely fallen apart after hundreds of years is a testament to the quality of craft that went into their creation,” he says. “My goal is not to make these items like new, but to ensure they last a few hundred years more, when they can be reassessed by future conservators.”
It’s an art – and a science
His expertise demands a complex skill set shaped, in part, by the collections he tends. Hunt must be familiar with all the materials used to make a book, such as the leather, paper and ink, as well as the more technical aspects of putting them together, including the binding and printing processes. He also must combat the chemical and environmental factors that degrade materials and threaten their longevity. While some of the tools of his trade, like needle and thread, harken back to antiquity, others rely on technology bringing new techniques to the mix.
One such piece of equipment that always seems to catch the eye of lab visitors is the humidification chamber. “It looks extremely sci-fi with its big plexiglass dome for holding in aerosolized water vapor,” Hunt says. “It’s unusual, although its actual purpose of helping to soften and flatten brittle material may not sound very exciting.”
Vellum, for example, can become rigid and brittle over time, a challenge Hunt confronts as he cleans and reconstructs a book of sacraments from the early 1700s. It suffers from unintentional damage inflicted by a treatment years ago, much like another of his current projects, maintaining a centuries-old printed book of epistles. He describes it as “a really beautiful example of early printing and typographic layout.”
“I would say the binding is probably German, late 1500s or early 1600s,” he says. “In the past, another conservator was a little overzealous with the leather dressing, and the binding needs to be cleaned and rehoused.” The conservation of library materials has been called a cornerstone of cultural stewardship. Hunt sees himself as one in a “long line of stewards working behind the scenes to keep these collections intact.”
Long-preserved wonders in Bridwell Library
Bridwell Library houses a plethora of rare items and collections which necessitate thoughtful stewardship and intentional preservation efforts. For instance, the library’s Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Bible Collection originated with the donation of nearly five hundred volumes in more than fifty languages in 1996 – an act of generosity which has led to the collection’s continual use at Bridwell, features in exhibitions and viewings for visiting groups, and thoughtful examination by students and scholars from around the world.
Bridwell Library has also featured its wide range of manuscripts held in its special collections in its Inscribed Illuminations and Inspirations: Manuscripts at Bridwell Library exhibition, offering viewers the opportunity to engage with items produced between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries in numerous locations throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
Researchers and others interested in viewing Bridwell’s special collections can schedule appointments to engage with these rare materials, or view the library’s many online exhibits highlighting these items.
This article by Pat Ward appears in the Spring 2025 issue of the SMU Libraries Newsletter.