A new year, a fresh start...
Her Majesty and the Bible have returned to the Rosen House after spending several weeks in the care of book and paper conservator Nelly Balloffet!
According to family lore, this massive leather bound, 1860 edition of the Bible and commentary by Rev. Robert Jamieson and Rev. E. H. Bickersteth with the carte de visite photograph of Queen Victoria on the cover, was given by the Queen herself to Lionel Guest, the second husband of Lucie Rosen’s mother Flora Bigelow, when he was born in November 1880. Not only is the carte de visite signed by Queen Victoria in the right corner, but so is the title page in the upper right corner.
In addition to giving the gilding a good dusting, Nelly Balloffet was able to replace and strengthen the text block spine with layers of thin Japanese paper and Irish linen, rehydrate the brittle leather, cut a new glass panel to protect the Queen on the cover, and remove any residues of 100-year-old hot animal glue.
Her Majesty will soon be holding court, yet again, in the Burgundian Library!