The other galleries show what has been collected. This one shows the collecting.
The Conservation Bench
A long wooden workbench under bright light, the surface arranged with the tools of repair. A copy of Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 lies in a work press, its spine removed, the pages held flat. The volume arrived water-damaged. The spine leather had weakened, the adhesive failed. The pages show staining on the upper edges — rust marks where metal bookends had leaned against a shelf for years.
On the bench: a pot of PVA adhesive, archival grade, its surface just beginning to film over. A bone folder, worn smooth. Linen thread on a wooden spool. A curved needle. Archival paper towels stained where water was drawn from the binding. The bench looks as though the work was set down recently and will resume shortly.
Conservation notes pinned beside the press: "Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, first edition, 1953. Ballantine Books. Found: private library, Boston. Water damage to pages 1–40 and 312–336. Staining on upper edge, rust bloom on endpapers. Spine adhesive failed. Treatment: page-by-page cleaning with soft brush and distilled water. Pressing. Rebinding with new spine, linen thread, PVA. Estimated completion: four weeks. Began 11 February."
The Stacks
Shelves of books run deep into the pavilion. Not display cases — shelving. Metal uprights, adjustable brackets, rows that disappear into the building's interior. Some sections have been catalogued: labels on the shelf edges in a consistent format, entries in bound ledgers kept on a wooden cart at the row's end. Other sections are still in progress. Spines face outward. Many are still dusty from arrival.
A cart at the end of one row holds recently arrived volumes, stacked loosely, some still in packing paper. Dust jackets visible on a few. Others without. Visible among the spines: Asimov's Foundation, 1951. Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, 1950. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama, 1973. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness, 1969. Lem's Solaris, 1961. Verne's From the Earth to the Moon, 1865. Wells's The Time Machine, 1895. Heinlein's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, 1966. Some volumes are pristine. Some show heavy wear — spine fading, page edges yellowed. A few in poor condition are flagged for repair priority. The shelving is functional. The work of arrangement continues.
The Intake Table
Near the entrance, a long table where incoming material is processed. A wooden crate sits partially unpacked, its top panel removed. The crate is stenciled with a location identifier: BRIGHTON-04. Inside, objects wrapped in tissue paper, some with temporary labels attached. A bound logbook lies open beside the crate, its pages filled with entries in a steady, consistent script. Each entry lists title, author, edition, date of first publication, location of recovery, and condition assessment.
Recent Intake Entries
Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama, first edition, 1973. Allen Lane. Found: shelf of private residence, Brighton. Condition: good, minor foxing to endpapers. Dust jacket present, torn at spine. Logged: 8 February.
Bradbury, The Illustrated Man, first edition, 1951. Doubleday. Found: estate collection, Manchester. Condition: fair, spine weakened, pages loose at signature. Dust jacket missing. Logged: 8 February.
Heinlein, Friday, first edition, 1982. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Found: library discard bin, Leeds. Condition: good, no dust jacket. Minor wear to cover. Logged: 10 February.
Verne, From the Earth to the Moon, Lippincott edition, 1874. Found: antiquarian dealer stock, London. Condition: good, binding tight, pages aged but sound. Dust jacket absent, appropriate to edition. Logged: 10 February.
The Manifest Wall
A wall-mounted display, updated monthly, shows a running count of the collection's contents. The figures are printed on card stock and pinned behind glass. The last update is dated 14 February.
Novels: 4,217. Technical documents: 1,183. Periodicals: 892. Audio recordings: 344. Manufactured objects: 891. Geological samples: 127. Scale models and reproductions: 203. Archival photographs: 1,456.
The numbers are specific and unround. They are a count, not an estimate.
Pulp Magazines
A section of shelving holds the periodicals that first published many of the stories now distributed across the other galleries. Amazing Stories, issues from 1926 through 1950. Astounding Science-Fiction, 1938 through 1965. Galaxy Science Fiction, 1950 through 1962. The magazines are being catalogued gradually — some have archival sleeves, others are still waiting. Condition notes are pinned to individual issues.
The paper is brittle. The colors have faded. Spines are fragile where they were folded. The covers show space scenes in vivid color — rocket ships, alien worlds, astronauts in silver — printed on stock that was never meant to last this long. The names of writers are visible on covers and contents pages: Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, Sturgeon, Leiber, Silverberg, Pohl. The work of preservation continues issue by issue.
The Condition Log
A bound ledger on a reading stand, open to the current week. Humidity readings taken daily. Temperature logs. Notes about which items need attention, which are in active repair, which are stable but monitored. The entries are specific.
11 February, humidity 52%, temperature 18°C. Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 — spine adhesive failing, rebinding in progress. 12 February, humidity 51%, temperature 18°C. Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea — pages 200–215 showing water damage from transport, drying in controlled press. 13 February, humidity 50%, temperature 18°C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey — dust jacket deteriorating, archival sleeve applied, jacket stable. 14 February, humidity 50%, temperature 18°C. Le Guin, The Dispossessed — binding tight, pages sound, no treatment needed, condition stable, next review in six months.
Collection Notes
- Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 First edition, 1953. Ballantine Books. On conservation bench, in rebinding. Found: private library, Boston. Water damage, rust staining.
- Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama First edition, 1973. Allen Lane. Intake processing. Found: private residence, Brighton. Condition good, foxing, dust jacket torn at spine.
- Bradbury, The Illustrated Man First edition, 1951. Doubleday. Intake processing. Found: estate collection, Manchester. Spine weakened, pages loose.
- Verne, From the Earth to the Moon Lippincott edition, 1874. Intake processing. Found: antiquarian dealer stock, London. Binding tight, pages aged.
- Conservation logbook Bound ledger. Ongoing entries. Treatment plans, repair notes, adhesive specifications.
- Condition ledger Bound ledger. Daily environmental readings and condition assessments. Open to current week.
- Intake logbook Bound ledger. Title, author, edition, recovery location, condition assessment for each incoming item.
- Amazing Stories collection Issues from 1926 through 1950. Partial archival sleeves. Cataloguing in progress. Condition varies, fair to good.
- Astounding Science-Fiction collection Issues from 1938 through 1965. Cataloguing in progress. Some interior art intact. Condition varies.
- Galaxy Science Fiction collection Issues from 1950 through 1962. Cataloguing in progress. Condition fair.
- Collection manifest Wall-mounted display. Updated monthly. Current count: 4,217 novels, 1,183 technical documents, 892 periodicals, 891 manufactured objects, 344 audio recordings, 127 geological samples. Last updated 14 February.