Behind the scenes of movable books: paper engineering wonders in late 19th century volumes

Abstract

This essay focuses on the restoration carried out on three movable books produced in the latter half of the nineteenth century between Italy, France, and Germany, that are conserved inside the collection of the Foundation Tancredi di Barolo in Turin: Cendrillon ou la petite pantoufle de verre, Les méfaits de Gaspard and Grande serraglio. The restoration was quite complex due to the variety of constituent materials (paper, fabric, metal) and the difficulty of restoring the elaborate mechanisms that allow the movement of the mechanical devices. Before the treatment, as usual, bibliographic research was carried out to learn about the processes and production techniques. Then, a series of diagnostic investigations were performed to understand the chemical composition of the constituent materials and the nature and extent of their degradation. An accurate photographic documentation was collected throughout the process. To be enjoyed, movable books must be actioned. The continuous or incorrect manipulation by readers, often children, has produced in many cases the malfunction of mechanical devices due to the breakage or displacement of one or more elements. In fact, each of the parts that make up the mechanisms has a specific role and the detachment of even the smallest element leads to the loss of functionality of the entire device. The restoration focuses on restoring the functionality of the mechanisms, sometimes hidden between the pages, which, before being disassembled, had to be carefully studied. For this purpose, facsimiles and virtual 3D models were created, thanks to which it was possible to fill the figurative losses of missing parts, place the detached elements back in the correct position and, where necessary, replace small parts to ensure the functionality of the devices. Some of these operations have raised interesting deontological questions, that have been tackled with various experts.