VMS conservation???? (ouch)

[Nick Pelling <incoming@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone,

I've been talking with a graduate art history student at Yale who's 
studying volvelles about the VMS, and she went in to the Beinecke yesterday 
to have a look at f57r - but the library wouldn't let her examine it at all.

I had warned her (following on from what Gerry Kennedy told me about what 
happened when he asked to see it) that this might happen - but it was a bit 
sad to be confirmed.

Anyway, the big news of the day is that (in her words):-

	...they won't be making a better facsimilie for a few years, or
	so I understood. They're also sending it off to conservation
	soon, so I don't know about its availability . .

Does sending it off for conservation before making a decent scan of how it 
is now make any sense at all? Has it been "conserved" before?

Worriedly, .....Nick Pelling.....