Title
Creator
Flemish, 1528–1598
Date
Description
Float washing may be the solution in reducing the tidemarks on this page from the third volume of Theodor de Bry’s Americae. The ink employed to print the engraving and its accompanying text is certainly insoluble; however, the print’s hand coloring would no doubt begin to migrate across the sheet should even a drop of water be introduced to the recto. Floating the paper might additionally serve to mitigate the mild burning that becomes more evident toward the top of the page.
The holes in the bottom and right margins were made well before this page was removed from its book. They were caused by woodworms, which tunneled their way through probably much of the entire text in search of sizing. The holes can be readily infilled with Japanese paper and then toned to match the paper’s color; however, the museum may very well opt to leave them, as well as the tidemarks, just as they are. Neither threaten to cause further stress to the paper, and both lie well enough outside of the images and text so that they can be easily hidden by the window mat.