Restoration of Castore Durante’s “Herbario Nuovo” [Private Collection]

Notes about the restoration project

This specimen, belonging to a private collection, is part of the first edition of a very famous printed work, the Herbario Nuovo by Castore Durante. The edition is dated 1585, printed in Rome, by Bonfantini & Dini. The text is embellished by the numerous woodcut editions designed by Isabella Parasole. 

Unfortunately, the volume had been the subject of a “do it yourself” restoration so that the papers were completely covered, in an almost maniacal way, with numerous layers of pst (pressure sensitive tape), commonly known as scotch or common adhesive tape.

Adhesive tape is one of the most dangerous enemies for a restorer, not so much for the surface film of which it is composed, which over time tends to detach, but for the adhesive stains that penetrate the paper support and which crystallize over time, making paper similar to glass, hardening it and making it very fragile, as well as representing a great aesthetic damage.

The parchment blanket was made up of several non-contemporary parts. The intervention was concentrated above all on the difficult removal of all the scotch from the cards with specific solvents, a new seam on the alumed leather nerves passing through the holes in the original blanket, gently cleaned to remove surface deposits.

I present three photographic galleries that document the state of the volume before the restoration, the details of the intervention, and the result of the restoration work of the artifact.

State of the artifact before restoration

Details during the restoration operations

Details after the restoration intervention

See all photo galleries