removal of book plates and other glued in items in the frontispiece?

Can anyone recommend a safe way to remove book plates and things like news clippings glued inside books? I inherited box loads from my dad now deceased who took a perverse pleasure in wrecking books by sticking things inside (thankfully not on the printed pages)? On some there is typex over the publication date and other bibliographic information - any advice there too?
Cheers

I have a book with an old news clipping inside too -- I'd like to save both, but fear that's not possible. The clipping is very browned.

Depending on the glue that was used, a dose of low heat might make it give up. You might experiment in your oven and microwave. Welgh the book down though to discourage curling. Or try an iron on an individual page. Remember though, low heat.

Chacun à son goût, of course, but why not regard your dad's additions as part of the individual history of the book and leave them be? If the book is valuable and would be more desirable in a cleaner state then you might consider getting professional conservator advice. Amateur clean-ups probably don't add value.

>4 abbottthomas:

👍

Book-plates add provenance. They are super-valuable to librarians down the road. You should leave them in.

The newspaper clippings, however, are awful.

>7 waitingtoderail: Rather a sweeping statement, maybe. I don't often do it and I eschew glue, but as an example of what I consider to be an appropriate inclusion of a newspaper clipping in a book I cite Billy Bunter at Butlins. Folded into the front of my copy I have left a cutting which describes a collector's hunt for the litter bins designed for the Festival of Britain in 1951. It turns out that many of these iconic items were bought for use in Butlin's holiday camps after the exhibition closed. Careful examination of the photo on the book's dust-jacket does indeed show one of the said bins.

I trust that, when I have shuffled off, a new owner will get as much pleasure from the article as I did.

Newspaper is highly acidic and over the years will discolor the pages of the book it is laid into. If it was placed into a mylar envelope before it is placed in the book, that would be better

There are also solutions on the market to de-acidify newsprint. Treating a clipping you want to keep in this way would be very helpful in preventing harm to the book.

Mylar sounds a bit thick: are there other thinner acid-free papers we can use that will allow us to keep those (IMO) valuable clippings that the former owner left loose in the book without adding a great lump of plastic or discolouring the pages further? Or is my surveyor's view of Mylar out of date?

You might also try glassine envelopes.

Thanks, staffordcastle! Those are what stamp collectors use, aren't they? I'll try to find some.

>12 staffordcastle: Another question. I seem to recall (British for: I clearly recall) a number of older books with glassine that itself had browned and disfigured the plates. Any idea where one might find definitely acid-free glassine? I'd probably go for a roll rather than envelopes as one has no idea what size a news clipping is going to be, so better to enclose it in a folded sheet of glassine (it should be thinner too than an envelope).

>14 shikari: I'd check Talas in New York for a roll of glassine.

>15 kdweber: Thanks, that's given me the clue I need. I see Talas are bookbinder suppliers, and as I'm near London, I'll try Shepherds/Faulkner's Fine Papers, who seem to stock large sheets that will fit my needs.