Since its original publication in Germany in 1938, Max Schweidler’s Die Instandetzung van Kupferstichen, Zeichnungen , Buchern usw. has been recognized as a seminal modern text on the conservation and restoration of works on paper. To address what he saw as a dearth of relevant literature, the noted German restorer composed a technical manual covering a wide range of specific techniques, including instructions on how to execute structural repairs and alterations that, when skillfully done, are virtually undetectable.

This volume, based on the authoritative revised German edition of 1949, makes Schweidler’s work available in English for the first time, in a meticulously edited and annotated critical edition. The editor’s introduction places the work in its historical context, while some two hundred annotations elucidate the text itself. An appendix presents technical reports on eleven old master prints that underwent repair or other treatment using techniques similar to those Schweidler describes; it complements Schweidler’s own text in aiding curators, conservators, and collectors to detect such repairs. This volume includes also a glossary.

• Foreword
• Preface
• Editor’s Introduction
• The Restoration of Engravings, Drawings, Books, and Other Works on Paper
• Editor’s Notes on the Text
• Appendix: Eleven Case Studies
• Glossary
• References
• Index
• About the Editor

Max Schweidler was well-known art restorer in Berlin.

Roy Perkinson holds a B.S. in physics and philosophy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.A. in art history from Boston University. He received his conservation training at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where he held an apprenticeship under the direction of F. W. Dolloff from 1967 to 1970. A member of the Print Council of America and a fellow of the American Institute for Conservation, Perkinson has published widely in the fields of paper conservation and fine art. Since 1976 he has been Head of Paper Conservation at the Virginia Herrick Deknatel Paper Conservation Laboratory, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.