

The Dutch Boy Conquers Old Man Gloom
Artist/ Creator: National Lead Company
Date: London: 1929
Bookplate: A Winterthur Library bookplate (7 cm x 5 cm) printed on white paper is hinged onto the first page of the booklet with a strip of thick repair tissue.
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Materials: Medium weight machine-made paper, staples, black, red, blue, and yellow printing inks.
Dimensions (H x W x D) in cm:
11.4 cm (H) x 13.7 cm (W) x 0.2 cm (D)

The Dutch Boy Conquers Old Man Gloom
Before Treatment, Recto
The National Lead Company produced a series of color-by-paint booklets for children, promoting Dutch Boy White Lead paint. Though papers describing the toxicity of lead were published as early as the mid - nineteenth century, at least five Dutch Boy paint books were distributed from 1914 to 1929, as far as I have found. The Dutch Boy Conquers Old Man Gloom contains a set of colored prints juxtaposed with a black outline of the same illustration. A page of red, blue, and yellow watercolor blocks are in the center of the booklet. X-ray fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy has confirmed the presence of lead in the watercolor blocks.
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Major treatment concerns:
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The staples in the booklet are rusted, causing the surrounding paper to fall out.
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The purpose of this treatment is to stabilize the book in preparation for future handling and use, taking into consideration the presence of toxic heavy metals.

The Dutch Boy Conquers Old Man Gloom
Before Treatment, Recto

The Dutch Boy Conquers Old Man Gloom
Before Treatment, Verso

The Dutch Boy Conquers Old Man Gloom
Before Treatment, Open, Coupon

The Dutch Boy Conquers Old Man Gloom
Before Treatment, Open, Watercolors

The Dutch Boy Conquers Old Man Gloom
After Treatment, Recto

The Dutch Boy Conquers Old Man Gloom
After Treatment, Verso

The Dutch Boy Conquers Old Man Gloom
After Treatment, Open, Coupon
