by Audrey Sage

The novel Peg Woffington which was written in 1853 by the British author Charles Reade. Inspired by the popular stage play Masks and Faces, Reade portrayed the London success of the Irish actress Peg Woffington (1720–1760).

UNCG owns a copy of this work in the Robert C. Hanson Performing Arts collection in Special Collection and University Archives. [https://uncg.as.atlas-sys.com/repositories/2/resources/454]

Our copy was in need of some conservation treatment and our conservator, Audrey Sage, was able to provide the restoration it needed.

The spine cloth was worn and falling away from the cover. Its pages were very dirty and in need of surface cleaning, so Audrey carefully cleaned each page throughout.

The cover was separated from the textblock and the old brittle adhesive and backing cloth were removed. A new layer of starch paste was applied along with layers of japanese paper, linen, and a moriki paper hollow.

Audrey used care to lift the cloth covering and endpapers from the cover boards.

A toned Moriki spine backed with RK27 japanese paper was inserted under the original cloth to repair the torn spine.

The newly reconstructed textblock could then be inserted into the mended cover and the original endpapers laid down over the linen cloth backing. This restoration will serve this historic volume for many years to come.

Peg Woffington is now ready for her next performance, waiting in the wings of the Jackson library stacks.