by Michele Brown
The Conservation Unit has been busy treating a variety of materials for Speaking of Sex, the new exhibit opening February 14 in the Hirshland Exhibition Gallery of the Carl A. Kroch Library. The exhibit celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Human Sexuality Collection. Brenda Marston, Curator of the Human Sexuality Collection, describes the importance of the collection: “A quarter of a century ago, the Library began to gather rare books, letters, photographs and original artwork, films, erotica, and all sorts of ephemera related to sexuality — much of which was ignored or shunned by academia and society at large.” The exhibit includes items from the original Mariposa archive and some recent additions.
Examples of the many different editions of The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall are included in the exhibit. Most of these are in excellent condition except for damaged dust jackets.
Losses and tears on each dust jacket were repaired with colored kozo tissue and usumino tissue using wheat starch paste. The first edition published in Paris by the Olympia Press had more extensive damage. The cloth was torn at the joints and the edges were worn away.
It was rebacked with airplane linen that had been laminated with 100% kozo moriki tissue. The edges were repaired with colored kozo using wheat starch paste. The original spine was put back on over the new spine.
Among many other unusual items needing repair were:
A box holding humorous cocktail napkins from a nudist resort: the tears in the box were repaired with colored kozo, using paste.
Album pages containing suggestive postcards: these had rusty staples holding the pages together and numerous tears. The staples were removed and the tears repaired with colored kozo using wheat starch paste.
Supports for the materials on display were constructed by Pat Fox and Caitlin Moore from the Conservation Unit.
Stop in and see examples the many unique materials in the Human Sexuality collection. The exhibit will be up until the fall. Check the Human Sexuality Collection Facebook page for regular updates.