Accelerated Aging of Deacidified and Untreated Book Paper in 1967 Compared with 52 Years of Natural Aging

Three copies of a book that had been optionally deacidified using two different procedures in 1967, and then subjected to accelerated aging, were tested again after 52 years of natural aging. Matched copies of the book Cooking the Greek Way, which had been printed in Czechoslovakia on acidic paper, were evaluated. Nonaqueous treatment of two of the copies with magnesium methoxide dissolved in chlorofluorocarbon solvent had been found in 1967 to have decreased the susceptibility to embrittlement, as evidenced by the results of the accelerated aging, followed by folding endurance tests. Retesting of the same books in 2019, after 52 years of room temperature storage, showed that the deacidification treatments had achieved the following benefits in comparison to the untreated book: (a) higher brightness; (b) higher folding endurance; (c) tensile breaking length higher in the cross-direction of the paper; (d) substantial alkaline reserve content, (e) an alkaline surface pH in the range 7.1-7.4, and (f) higher molecular mass of the cellulose. Remarkably, some of the folding endurance results matched those of unaged samples evaluated in 1967. Scanning electron micrographs showed no differences between the treated and untreated books.