I have about 400 Aeolian Pipe Organ Rolls that need to be assessed for
condition.  The condition of the boxes range from dusty and musty to
falling apart but, to my untrained eye, the rolls look to be in very
good-to-excellent condition.  I am in the process of sorting them by
roll width and number.

Would anyone like to advise me on how to assess the condition of the
rolls?  If the box is musty, or has even the slightest bit of mold,
should the roll be removed to a clean container?  It seems to me that
the boxes have provided incredible protection to the rolls, even when
the box got a little beat up.

I am a rare books dealer and letterpress printer and I found this hoard
on a book scouting adventure.  I'm not sure what book/ephemera protocol
to apply to these beautiful rolls, so I am deferring to this forum.
Thank you for any advice you have time to relate.  I have already
gleaned _so much_ information from this forum!

Sincerely,
Kate Anderson Askew - Arkansas Bookseller
Little Rock, Arkansas
kateaskew@sbcglobal.net.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]