Csapodi, Csaba: Conservation of the Manuscript and Old Book Collections at the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Methods and Results. 1949–1964 (A MTAK kiadványai 44. Budapest, 1965)

scripts, fasciculi, packages of manuscripts in board-like files or simply wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. The old books, since they did not form a separate collection, shared the fate of the other stored pieces of the entire library; only the incunabula and the old Hungarian books were put into glassfronted cabinets. In 1950 — 1951, during the reconstruction of the Library, the new furnishings of the manuscript collection were completed in three rooms opening into each other (the rebuilt one-time office and residence of the secretarygeneral) as a hall with galleries (Plate 1). After the completion of these three rooms a fourth was added, but of course for a different storage system (Plate 2). The collection of manuscripts and old books placed in the four spacious rooms is still one of the highlights of our Library, although it lost much of its aesthetical effect by the fact that along with the multiplied material it was necessary to accommodate a greater staff and set up many desks because of the lack of adequate office space. The new furnishing was a significant step forward in comparison to the former situation even from the aspect of conservation because the manuscripts, incunabula and the old Hungarian books were placed in identical glass-fronted cabinets while, in the fourth room which was finally furnished, mainly the copies of the material of the History Committee and the more extensive manuscript legacies were placed on open shelves or rather on guide bars in closed boxes. In order to more adequately protect the most valuable material we had a nine square metre strong room separated from the other sections of the research hall by a fire-proof steel door. (Plate 3). In this strong room the iron cabinets did not prove suitable. Since they were low and not easily adjustable the utilization of space was inadequate. They were badly ventilated; steam condensed more easily on the cold metal surface than on the wooden shelves and the inside received no illumination at all. Moreover, the entire room lacked sufficient ventilation. It was possible to ventilate only by opening the door, thus endangering the collection. Therefore in order to protect the entire manuscript collection from fire a, closed switch box, operated from without, was placed on the outside wall. At the end of the workday the electricity is completely disconnected and fire by short-circuit prevented. There is an automatic fire alarm system in the two central rooms. The new system was quite advantageous for the work of the librarians, for quick service, for the selection of material and for a sort of historical spirit but as time progressed its disadvantages from the viewpoint of conservation became obvious. The first disadvantage was the fact that the manuscript collection increased much faster than expected while the capacity of the halls did not and it was impossible to acquire other adjoining rooms. Thus other places which were not so close — some even on other floors — had to be included. The number of researches using the collection increased along with the staff, thus creating the well-known danger to paper and leather bindings caused by chemical substances which get into the air from exhalation and perspiration. An even greater problem and danger to the collection was thet it was impossible to provide a temperature satisfactory to both the manuscripts and books and to the workers. A comfortable temperature at desk height is 20° C; this temperature, especially in case of central heating which greatly dehumidifies the air, is too high for paper and leather. An even worse state occurs 7