Pepperdine Libraries Partners with Faculty to Preserve Rare Materials

Pepperdine Libraries has begun exciting conservation work to stabilize a selection of books from its Boone Special Collections that are hundreds of years old and unavailable digitally. The oldest of the books conserved are a 1533 German language translation of the Book of Sirach by the Protestant reformer Martin Luther; The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre from 1619; and James Ussher’s The Annals of the World from 1658. These three books have long been a part of the Libraries' rare book collection, and they were given the highest priority due to repeated use in classroom instruction.

The remaining books conserved in this first phase are 18th-century texts (and one from the early 19th century) that were part of a private donation of hundreds of books. The Libraries engaged Pepperdine faculty from the Humanities and Teacher Education Division to sort through the collection in collaboration with Special Collections librarians and identify those books of enduring value that the faculty might like to use in the classroom or their research. 

The extent of the damage was typical for books of their age and included loose or detached boards (the hard covers and backings of the book). The Libraries identified a professional book conservator, Bouguereau Bindery, to carefully reattach the boards and perform other work such as surface cleaning the boards and edges and mending torn pages.

Students, faculty, and staff can now safely interact with the conserved books without worrying about a board detaching or pages falling out while handling the material. The Libraries is looking forward to continuing this work in the coming year.

Dean of libraries Mark Roosa expressed his excitement about the project and how it will impact student learning. “When Pepperdine faculty incorporate rare books into classroom instruction, it provides a rich, tactile learning experience for students, ” said Roosa.

Faculty, are you looking to incorporate a rare book into your class? Email specialcollections@pepperdine.edu to schedule an instructional session.