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Zsuzsanna Tóth Brass book-covers of the Lutheran Slovaks living in Hungary The so called ’Slovak book-covers’ which have archaic look appeared quite late, in the middle of the 19th century as local fashion in the community of the Lutheran Slovaks immigrated to Hungary. The fittings used earlier generally for the protection of the bindings, disappeared by this time. The few ones still existing cannot be classified into unified groups; they are only decorative elements, often designed particularly for the certain book. In small amount only, one type of bookbinding could have been found continuously typically in the provinces, in the circle of social classes such as peasants and the lower middle class. This kind of book-covers preserved archaic elements, their appearance was simple with just a few fittings and they were related to religious books. The fittings for the so called ‘Slovak book-covers’, which are more spectacular, richly decorated but not much elaborated ones, were usually made as secondary covers, mainly for the older, archaic book-bindings mentioned above. They were made often by wanderer bookbinders or metal repairmen who bore their workshop with them. The ’Slovak book-covers’ can be found almost exclusively on the songbooks edited by Juraj Tranovszky. They have been published 170 times since their first publishing in 1636. The names generally used for the above covers are ‘Slovak book-covers’, ‘Slovak Bibles’ or ‘tranoscius’, the last one refers to Juraj Tranovszky’s name. The need and the financial strength of the users resulted the birth of this spectacular, but roughly implemented type of fitting and cover, the evolution, alteration and variety of which was dictated by the local fashion. As the way of life and the fashion changed, the manufacture of this spectacular type of book-cover ceased barely after 50 years of flowering. The use of songbooks bound in this way can still be found in the 20th century in more and more decreasing quantity, but because of the retreat of the language used in this books practically it ceased for today. Zsuzsanna Tóth Paper and leather conservator MA Translated by: Márta Kissné Bendefy Andrea Várfalvi Experiences about conservation of water-sensitive textile folding fans The deterioration of the folding textile fans can be caused by human, animal or microbiological activities and environmental factors. The results of examination of the materials and the manufacture technology of the artifacts can help to select the materials and methods be used in the course of the conservation. The fans are cleaned mechanically first. The wet cleaning can be carried out only after taking apart the components, since their sensitivity to water are different. The first step of the dismantling is the removal of the traces of inappropriate repairs. The taking apart of the lower and upper edging ribbons, which are often hardly damaged, makes possible the separation of the leaves from the sticks. It is very important to make a precise cutting pattern of the front page after dismantling and flattening. The wet cleaning of the textiles can be carried out by soaking, with the use of surfactants if necessary. During shaping the leaves are fixed with stainless insect pins or with glass plates. The present of water-sensitive elements, such as finishes, paintings, sequins made of gelatine, threads fixing the sequins and beads and the crewels dyed with unstable dyestuffs excludes the wet cleaning. The fabrics embroidered with bleeding threads cannot be treated with water without deterioration. The textiles with finishes, with painted areas or with gelatine sequins can be cleaned effectively by local swabbing, between absorbent tissue papers. The water sensitive areas should be left untouched during the treatment. If the finishes or the paintings get sticky during the cleaning test, the cleaning shouldn’t be carried on. In this case, only the softening and the smoothing out of the creases can be executed by humidification. If the paper lining of the fan is weak, acidic and it does not have any historical importance, its replacement can be accepted because it could be harmful for the object in the future. The wet cleaning of sticks made of watersensitive wood, bone, horn or mother of pearl can be attempted with cotton swabs slightly dampened with a little amount of water. Degreasing of the metal elements such as sequins, handle and rivet can be carried out with organic solvents. The reshaping of distorted sticks can be attempted with their careful dampening and then pressing between cardboard strips. The conservation of the fabric of fans with sewing is different from the usual practice in textile conservation. The support should be sewn with continuous stitches to the leaves between their bottom and upper edges radially, close to the weakened plies. In the case of very weak, fragmentary textiles, the supporting can be followed by covering with silk crepeline on one or both sides. The support serves as replacement of the missing areas as well. The embroidery and sequin decorations are replaced only rarely for static reasons. The sticks, which are damaged or incomplete, can be repaired with epoxy or cyanoacrylate type adhesive. The reassembly of the conserved elements of the fan should be carried out similarly to the original technique. The leaves can be fixed to the sticks with sewing or gluing. In the course of the reassembly, first the stick framework is stabilized with insect pins according to the previously made cutting pattern. First the front leaves are glued to the sticks, after that the other layers, and finally the lower 181
