Anyone familiar with vellum?

This past summer I purchased what turned out to be a bunch of indentures from the early 1800's. These were individually sandwiched between, and surrounded by many sheets of large watercolor paper ... all loosely rolled up. (The estate had belonged to an artist and I was hoping to find some of her sketches ... but would have been happy with all the heavy paper even if blank for what it cost)

This bundle was laying on a wet part of the basement floor and because of this, the documents (a pleasant surprise!) were very pliable ... at home as we looked them over, we stacked them flat on a table.

Fast forward to now - still on the table .... they are not exactly stiff ... but are certainly MUCH less pliable than they were when they were damp.

I'd prefer to roll them back up while we decide what to do with them ... we need our table space back!

How should I go about this without harming these documents? Re-dampen them?

- K

 

Sandwich between corrugated and put behind the sofa

 

Dry vellum is stiff but very tough, since it is a form of leather. There is not much you can do to them that they won't spring back from.

 

I think you can try humidifying them. I found a lot of information online about humidifying various types of documents, including vellum. However, Terry's advice is good, too. It would get them out of your way and you wouldn't have to try some of the humidifying techniques, which might take quite a while to do properly.

 

Thanks Terry, af, and Fig! Flat between cardboard was a quick and easy solution!(at least for now ... until we figure out what to do with them)

 

Sounds like a good idea. You could also do the same and stuff them under a bed, if the sofa is near a radiator. Vellum is tough, but there's no point in giving it more to handle than you have to.