At the Birthplace we had three National Geographic magazines from around
the 1910s.  These magazines were there to represent Richard Nixon's
interest in the magazine, which he avidly read as a young boy.  They were
not owned by RN, but could be considered originals.  Docents would pick
them up and talk about them in their dialogue, or visitors would hold
them.  Big no-no for visitors to do that, especially  in the presence of
the docent.  So I decided to have the covers color copied, and I produced
facsimiles in-house.  It was simple to do.  Now the facsimiles sit there,
still serving their function as part of the docent dialogue, and I don't
really have to worry about them falling apart.  If they do, I'll just
proudce other samples.  Perhaps you can find replacement volumes, or have
the books' covers color copied, set up a facsimile, and reserve the
originals in storage for preservation purposes.  For very special days,
you could bring them out for display purposes, then rotate them out with
the facsimiles on ordinary days.  Hope this helps.


O
Olivia S. Anastasiadis, Curator
Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace
Yorba Linda, CA  92886
(714) 993-5075 ext. 224; fax (714) 528-0544


On Sun, 29 Jun 1997 20:25:45 +1000 Jennifer Nuske
<[log in to unmask]> writes:
>We have a small house museum. Although it has a long association with
>one
>family it has been fitted out as a typical home of the period. The was
>because we lacked detail and trully wanted it to represent a typical
>home
>of the period.
>
>Now we have some possessions of a family member who once lived there.
>We
>have so few items that once belonged to the historic site in general
>that
>these items are all the more valuable. While I have some concerns
>about
>security my concern here is the display of the items. Pieces like the
>hatbox would be simple to place.
>
>The more difficult items are the books with their sentimental
>inscriptions.Placing them in the room gives them the context they
>would
>most likely have had in their use but does not testify to their value
>they
>have now attained. Their condition could easily deteriorate with
>guides
>handling them whist satisfying the natural curiosity of visitors. At
>the
>same time I did not want to place these items in a case in the period
>display rooms which I believe would look ridiculous. The only other
>option
>is to place them in a case in the interpretation room. My problem then
>is
>that these items will most likely be viewed as 'sacred objects of this
>particular family. This is not what this house museum is about.
>
>Any ideas?
>
>Thanks,
>Jennifer
>****************
>Jennifer Nuske
>Port Arthur
>Australia
>[log in to unmask]
>