At work* i recently came across a dry plate from 1891 that seems to have been varnished at some point, presumably by the photographer. I found that that seems to have been the practice before hardening fix was common, right around the 1880s. When cleaning the glass sides of the plates that day with ethanol, as is standard practice there**, I got some one the emulsion side as well, which sems to have dissolved the varnish in spots.
The image still scanned fine with no visible damage to the emulsion.
My question here is about preservation: Does anyone here have any pointers on how to best preserve the plate going forward? Is doing nothing at all the safest way, leaving the partly-devarnished plate in the achival sleeve? Would you take the rest of the varnish of too, so the plate is not subject too different ageing in some parts? Or should it be recoated to protect the gelatin like the original varnish did for the last 130 years?
I realize this is not a common question, and the best answer is not f***ing up this badly, but that's too late now.
I was also not sure which sub-forum this question would fit best, so I am happy for pointers about that.
Thirdly I hope my writing is not too awkward, I am not a native English speaker (nor writer).
* My job is to digitize all kinds of negatives, but that's not for here.
** It's in the manual. But there will be a footnte in there in the near future, I assume.
The image still scanned fine with no visible damage to the emulsion.
My question here is about preservation: Does anyone here have any pointers on how to best preserve the plate going forward? Is doing nothing at all the safest way, leaving the partly-devarnished plate in the achival sleeve? Would you take the rest of the varnish of too, so the plate is not subject too different ageing in some parts? Or should it be recoated to protect the gelatin like the original varnish did for the last 130 years?
I realize this is not a common question, and the best answer is not f***ing up this badly, but that's too late now.
I was also not sure which sub-forum this question would fit best, so I am happy for pointers about that.
Thirdly I hope my writing is not too awkward, I am not a native English speaker (nor writer).
* My job is to digitize all kinds of negatives, but that's not for here.
** It's in the manual. But there will be a footnte in there in the near future, I assume.
