The Harburg Bible

Yesterday was an awesome day out visiting the National Archives, both as researcher and as tourist, and meeting with experts at the Smithsonian to learn about conservation/preservation of the family bible I recently acquired.  This bible was sent to my great grandmother Marie Bierdümpfel Jurgens from Germany after she had migrated to America.

German Bible from 1575

More images of the bible can be found at http://www.jordanclan.org/family_tree/Research/bible.html

The short answer - find a local book conservator (http://www.conservation-us.org/) and commission them to build a box specifically to store the book. For this particular book, given that it appears to still be in its original binding and in good shape for its age, I was advised not to try to get it restored, but to protect it as is. Although several pages at the front and back have had attempts at repair in the past, at this point those attempts are also historical. History within history! :)