A short while ago, I invested in a roll of the best quality adjustable fold mylar jacket protectors and began applying them to my favorite and/or most valuable books from my collection. What struck me was just how thick they were (robust polyester sheeting with paper backing). Even before I read this short piece from a Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar attendee, I had concerns that, in the interest of preventing chips, tears, and overall shelfwear, I was actually malforming my jackets. It is curious that the biggest name in protectors, Brodart, applies paper backing to all of their archival safe covers, save one, their cheapest offering--the Econo-fold.
Now I'm not quite sure how I want to proceed. What do the long time collectors among my readers think? Please share.
She might be right, but I'm not sure it matters. I have never seen a Brodart jacket damage a paper cover, even older ones. Any book so rare or valuable that I would worry about stretching the jacket, I would have in an archive sleeve and boxed anyway, certainly not on the shelf.
ReplyDeleteI have hundreds of books wrapped in the mylar protector and have never had an issue.
ReplyDeletetps