Art, Science, Invention

Charles Willson Peale was the owner of the nation’s first successful natural history museum. The Peale-Sellers Family Collection, held at the Amer. Philosophical Soc. (APS) Library, is the world’s largest archival collection related to the Peales. Two recent APS Museum exhibitions included selected items from the collection. The APS conservation staff ensured that the items were stable enough to display for months, and conservators repaired or stabilized books and manuscripts that needed treatment. This book examines the materials Peale and his family have left us, considers their preservation challenges, and discusses the evolution of conservation care for archival collections. It includes case studies of conservation treatment for six historic Peale-related artifacts. Illus.