Exhibition presented by Carole Jeanneret
from the "Open Book" workshop
24 Rue de Lausanne in Fribourg
"The mission of the conservator/restorer: what if your books could last another 100 years?"
From June 3 to 27, 2026 at L'Atelier, Place Notre-Dame 16 in Fribourg
The restoration report
What is this ?
The conservation/restoration report is a central document in any file concerning the treatment of books and paper documents. It serves to describe the initial condition, to justify the intervention choices, to account for the treatments carried out, and to ensure traceability for the future.
What is its purpose?
The report is not merely a technical account; it is also a record of the collections, useful to curators, librarians, conservators, and sometimes to funders or regulatory authorities. It allows us to understand what has been done, with what materials, on which areas of the document, and within what limitations. In the field of heritage, this traceability is essential because a restoration must remain legible, reversible as much as possible, and proportionate to the condition of the object.
What does it contain?
A good restoration report should provide comprehensive information on several points: the physical description of the document, photographic documentation before treatment, analysis of alterations and causes of degradation, justification of the chosen treatment, and then a precise description of the methods and products applied.
For territorial libraries and public property, official forms also request information such as the call number, description of the medium, condition of the book body, condition of the pages or leaves, of the booklets, illustrations, and the planned restoration project.
Its usual presentation:
In practice, this structure is often found:
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Document identification : title, call number, author, date, format, medium, binding, provenance.
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Condition report : tears, gaps, soiling, weakening, acid, mold, biological attacks, old repairs, deformations.
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Diagnosis : probable causes of alterations, urgency of intervention, risks of manipulation or consultation.
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Treatment plan : cleaning, consolidation, lining, filling gaps, reshaping, binding, packaging, or simple stabilization as appropriate.
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Description of the treatment carried out : products, techniques, areas treated, interventions not carried out and reasons.
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Recommendations : conditions of preservation, handling, storage, consultation, future monitoring.
Specific requirements for the preservation of books and papers:
For a book, the report often needs to distinguish between the text block, the stitching, the signatures, the cover/binding, the boards and the endband materials, because the condition of each part can guide the treatment.
For individual paper documents, the focus is often on the stability of the substrate, deformations, tears, acidity, sensitive inks, creases, and previous alterations. In both cases, current practice increasingly favors preventive conservation and minimal treatments when sufficient, rather than systematic and extensive interventions.
How to write a good report?
A useful report must be precise, objective, and actionable. Vague statements like "good general condition" without explanation should be avoided, and verifiable observations should be preferred, including damage location, measurements if necessary, and before/after comparative photos. It is also important to clearly separate the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, so that what was observed can be distinguished from what was interpreted.
Here is a simple example:
For a 19th-century book with a fragile spine, a report might state: half-cloth cover, cracked hinges, slightly loose signatures, brittle and soiled paper, then specify that the book has been dusted, the hinges reinforced, the torn pages repaired, and that a protective box has been recommended. This type of report both documents the intervention and guides future care.
In an institution:
In an institutional setting, the report often accompanies the estimate, specifications, and potentially the opinion of advisory bodies for heritage document restoration projects. It is therefore an integral part of the technical and administrative file. For a workshop, it is also a high-quality document: it demonstrates the consistency between the initial state, the chosen protocol, and the final result.
Below are some examples of restoration reports:
Encyclopedia restoration
of Diderot and d'Alembert
Restoration of an Antiphonary from 1816
Restoration of the four Swiss paintings
Restoration of a Bible
from 1670
Restoration of a Bible
from 1746
Restoring a poster
by Paul Colin
Restoration of a Martini Plan
Book restoration for the Universal Postal Union
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