CAPE TOWN FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY

Looking After Those Old Papers

Our November speaker was Johan Maree, head of the Restoration Department in the UCT Library, which contains artworks, books, documents and photographs. These all need to be properly conserved to retain the best possible quality.
He is a paper conservator who trained in Europe. After World War 2 it became necessary to find ways to restore material that had been damaged during the War. Also after the flood in Florence in 1966, many items required restoration.
The craft of Master Bookbinder provided the expertise necessary to restore books and documents.
Mr. Maree gave us a most interesting glimpse into of paper conservation.