The Municipality of Los Realejos and the General Foundation University of La Laguna (ULL) join forces to collaborate in the conservation and restoration of valuable documents from the municipal historical archive. Both entities announce the signing of a first contract to avoid the disappearance of the document that, according to previous technical reports, is at greater risk of disappearance: the detailed register of inhabitants of Realejo Alto in the year 1915.
The work team in charge of recovering the document, made up of 179 stitched sheets, will be led by Dr. the Faculty of Fine Arts of the ULL and head of the Works of Art Analysis and Documentation Service-SEGAI, Elisa Maria Diaz Gonzalez, and will have the support of the researcher in predoctoral training, conservator and restorer of cultural assets of the ULL, Ania Rodriguez Maciel.
The delicate and laborious recovery process will last about 4 months and consists of three phases. The first focuses on the detailed study of the volume, the physical characterization of the specimen and its detailed description. The second will be the non-destructive study by image with the application of different types of illumination of invisible radiation. that allow to recover the legibility of texts and the characterization of inks present. The third phase will include complementary tests that determine the restoration treatment in relation to the composition, the state of acidity of the paper and the physical alterations present. In addition, work will be carried out to disinfect the volume and consolidate support internally and externally.
“The conservation work begins with the volume with the greatest risk of loss”
The mayor of General Services, Noelia Gonzalez (PP), announces that this first contract will not be the only one, since his forecast is that the City Council and the General Foundation University of La Laguna carry out different projects of study and restoration of other documents of the municipal historical archive. This collaboration starts with the general census of Realejo Alto of 1915 because, according to a previous technical report, “it is in a very serious state of conservation, affected by microorganisms and decomposition of part of the support and, consequently, loss of information”.
González recalls that “it is an important document that includes, as a record, all the residents of the municipality in that year, described by names of residents of each dwelling, family relations or complementary data such as whether they knew how to read or write. A municipal information of special historical relevance.
