Preserving Vasa
By (author) Emma Hocker
Paperback (Published)
(July 2018)
ISBN: 9781909492998
8.27 x 10.63 inches
Price: $100.00
In stock
Published in association with the Vasa Museum, this book tells the extraordinary story of the Vasa warship-from its sinking in 1628 to its recovery in 1961 and the decades-long effort to conserve it. It details the challenges of preserving massive volumes of waterlogged wood, the evolving conservation techniques used, and the ongoing work to safeguard the ship for future generations. A compelling account of one of the world’s most ambitious maritime conservation projects.
The story of Vasa began almost four hundred years ago. On 10 August 1628, the Vasa, newly built flagship of the Swedish King Gustav II Adolf, set sail in Stockholm harbour. Less than an hour later, Sweden’s great warship sank to the bottom of Stockholm harbour, Various attempts were made to raise the ship. In the 1660s attention turned to salvaging the ship’s consignment of bronze cannon, while the hull itself remained relatively undisturbed at the bottom of the sea until April 1961 when the great ship was raised from the waters of Stockholm harbour. Conservation and reconstruction was to prove a far cry from plain sailing…taking almost 30 years before the ship was placed on permanent display in the purpose-built Vasa Museum in central Stockholm. This book, published in association with The Vasa Museum, documents how this huge ship survived the forces of decay; how the conservators of the 1960s approached the task of preserving such an enormous volume of waterlogged wood; what needs to be done to preserve the ship for future generations and how the ship is looked after on a daily basis.
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Chapters
1. Introduction
2. On the Harbour Bottom
3. Salvage and Excavation
4. Conserving Vasa
5. Reconstructing Vasa
6. Conservation of Objects
7. Life in the New Museum
8. The Unexpected
9. Stabilising the Climate
10. Monitoring and Stabilising Vasa
11. A New Support System
12. Vasa’s Legacy
Bibliography
Index
- By (author) Emma Hocker
"Emma Hocker presents this story in a readable and often gripping way. It is as accessible to the intelligent lay reader, clearly written and without jargon, as it is to the professional conservator or archaeologist concerned with the preservation of wooden ships and maritime finds. For the latter it includes a full bibliography of technical references. It thus achieves the best of both worlds, and can warmly be recommended to interested readers at any level." Colin Martin for The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology (2020) 49.1: 203-226 The Cultural Relics Press voted 'Preserving Vasa' second most popular in the category of conservation 2023
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