# antique document preservation

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antique-document-preservation/382424>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 1, 2006, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antique-document-preservation/382424 "2006-12-01T02:01:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kleary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bb73d2/32.png) [@kleary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kleary)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antique-document-preservation/382424/1 "2006-12-01T02:01:48Z")

</div>

I have some handwritten letters from the eighteenth century. What is the best way to preserve them? Is it better to just hand them over to a library of some sort that can take care of them? Is it possible to take photographs of them without doing damage?  
Thanks.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antique-document-preservation/382424/2 "2006-12-01T02:23:35Z")

</div>

The museum in which I work has a massive archive of historical documents.

First of all, if you want to donate them to a museum, that’s wonderful. They’ll get the best of care there. Yes, you could photocopy them before you donate them. (The museum might even do it for you.) The damage from light is cumulative-- one photocopying isn’t going to do a large amount of damage.

If you want to keep the originals yourself, place them flat in a large acid-free envelope. (It MUST be acid-free, or you risk the document being eaten by the acids in the envelope.) Store them in a drawer or cabinet somewhere in the interior of your home where the humidity and temperature are relatively constant. A closet is usually fine for this sort of thing, but make sure that it doesn’t get accidentally crushed by putting other stuff on top of it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antique-document-preservation/382424/3 "2006-12-01T07:05:20Z")

</div>

Following on from **Lissa** ’s recommendations, there’s useful advice [here](http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/preservation/advice/default.htm).