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There are probably more collectable objects based on paper than any other material: books, prints. drawings, watercolours, stamps. banknotes, matchbox labels etc. Not surprisingly, owners of such objects want them to remain in good condition despite the fact that many of them were only intended to have a lifetime of as little as a few hours. e.g. tickets. However, some papers and the images upon them are inherently unstable and others deteriorate quickly when stored under the wrong conditions.The study of paper conservation can be split into four areas: ( i ) the chemistry of the deterioration of paper and the writing or images thereupon. (ii) the physics and chemistry of processes that can be performed to enhance stability and appearance, (iii) the practical skills needed to carry out active conservation processes, e.8. bleaching and Fvashing, and (iv) the management and storage of a collection. This review will concentrate on the first two of these areas as these \i ill be of more interest to chemists.There are two ways in which paper objects can be prevented from deteriorating; these are sometimes known as passive and active methods. Passive methods are those which involve creating good storage and climatic control so that damage by handling, incident light. thermal degradation. air pollution and excessively high or low relative humidity is minimised. Active methods involve treating objects to clean and stabilise them: examples of this are washing, deacidification and repair.

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