By Rachel Penniman, Conservation Specialist
What do you when your anatomical flap book has gone all to pieces? This book arrived with every flap piece detached from its page but all still in good condition. Having the flaps detached actually made it easier to see the usually hidden backs of those parts, but what is a flap book without a flap?
To maintain access to the individual parts but still retain the interactive and movable essence of the book, we decided not to reattach the loose parts to their pages. Instead they were put in Mylar pockets hinged to a Mylar backing sheet. So the flaps move in a way similar to what was originally intended while still allowing the back of each part to be more accessible.
Does the addition thickness of the mylar cause distortion in the book?
Thanks for the question, Noah! This treatment solution didn’t add distortion to the textblock for a couple of reasons. There are only 4 of these plates with flaps – the rest of the text is normal printing. Since for each plate housing there is just one full sheet of mylar and the other layers are smaller pieces in the center of the page, there are really only 4 total pieces that extend into the gutter. Rachel also used 2 mil polyester for the housing, so the total thickness added is very small.