On my bookshelf | The Conservation of Cultural Property, Museums and Monuments Series Vol XI, by Unesco

This wonderful book was first published in 1968, with a minimal, white, soft cover, an ahead-of-its-time typeface, and lower-case printed title. It is one of my most used – falling apart, edges worn – publications. 

It is beautifully written, with black-and-white illustrations, a learned book – and easy to read. I bought it in Durham, while studying archaeological conservation, and it was a constant source of wonderment. 

Chapters by the greats in the early field of conservation and conservation science include Harold Plenderleith, a former keeper of the research laboratory at the British Museum, and from 1959 the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property’s (ICCROM) first director, writing about the preservation of monuments; and a later chapter by the conservation science pioneer Giorgio Torraca on the conservation of metals in the tropics.

This book influenced my career by encouraging an openness in the practice of conservation. Techniques used on archaeological sites in the Middle East, in the desiccating heat, may differ from those required in tropical climates. Undoubtedly, sections are out of date, practices have moved on and some methods have been found to be harmful.But it remains refreshing in its broad international scope, and in covering museums and monuments. 

A Google search found only a fleeting reference to it, in the ICCROM publication (2009), celebrating 50 years, on page 35.But it’s undeniably worth the search for those who seek it.