This month’s artifact is a letter to Dard Hunter from a Mr. David Silve c. 1943 regarding the introduction of a newly invented font type: Times New Roman.  

In 1929, a British newspaper entitled The Times of London hired typographer Stanley Morison to create a new font for the paper, after Morison criticized The Times for being “extremely out of touch with modern trends in typography.” Morison led the project and supervised Victor Lardent, an advertising artist for The Times, who actually drew the letterforms.  

This month’s feature is a bookbinding leather roll tool. It is numbered in the Museum’s Collection as #1996.002.31. This tool was used in a process called ‘gold-tooling’, where gold leaf would be applied to the cover of a book. The process used an adhesive called ‘glair’ that would be smeared onto the surface of the leather, followed by the gold leaf. The gold was then coated in grease in order to hold it in place.

This month's feature is a Chinese joss paper (also known as spirit paper or ghost paper) robe and pants. In our collection this pair of objects share the number 1993.006.728.  

These articles of paper clothing were never meant to be worn by the living. For almost 2000 years, Chinese mourners have been making joss paper objects for the dead. These objects are usually burned in ceremonies after the funeral but are sometimes buried with the deceased. It is believed that the joss paper items will become their real equivalents in the afterlife.  

This month's feature is a spotlight on the museum's conservation efforts. Within the museum's vast collection are many rare and aged books, some published as early as the 16th century. The books cover topics ranging from paper making, paper chemistry, to botany.