Paleontological Educational sign from the Historical Collection of the School of Mining Engineering of Madrid

The Historic Library of the School of Mining Engineering of Madrid conserves, as part of its documentary repository, a collection of 74 large-scale lithographic signs on palaeontological subjects that belong to the Palaeontologische Wandtafeln collection put together by the German palaeontologist, geologist and naturalist Karl Alfred von Zittel (1839-1904), edited between 1879 and 1901 by E. Schweizerbartsche Verlagsbuchhandlung in Stuttgart, Germany.

Commissioned by the institution, sign No. 73 in the collection dedicated to the Pareiasaurus Baini was restored. The sign featured small-scale damage from use and handling, and a significant loss of support, combined with a set of repairs and interventions that were not very appropriate and lacking minimal technical criteria, which had a major impact on the advanced stage of deterioration the piece presented. Unfortunately, this was not the only sign that had suffered such inappropriate care and lack of professional intervention, which had damaged a large part of the collection.

The sign restoration focused on the removal of additions, coatings and repainting, undertaken on the inappropriate intervention performed, and the consolidation of the support through lamination, and the replacement of the secondary paperboard support, severely damaged, by a stationary support, ensuring the physical integrity of the work is recovered.