Notes
Printed on parchment, the land grant is a combination of letterpress printed form in a black, oil- based ink and manuscript handwritten in iron gall ink. There are remnants of a paper seal at the bottom left corner of the document.
The parchment was folded multiple times: there is one central vertical fold and three evenly space horizontal folds. Apart from these folds, there are some gentle planar distortions overall and more more localized slight distortions along the lower edge of the document. The parchment is generally flexible, but the lower edge has hardened and slightly contracted, creating the distortions described above.
There is a minor loss to the parchment at the bottom left corner and a smaller irregularly- shaped loss within the bottom right, below the signature. There are multiple thin areas within the lower half of the parchment, which are visible in transmitted light and if the parchment is placed overtop a dark surface. This may be related to past pest damage. The recto of the document is somewhat discolored overall. There is staining locally along the folds, most noticeably along the central vertical fold. Soiling in mild/moderate overall.
The iron gall inscriptions on the recto appear to be in the same ink; the inscriptions on the verso are likely different inks, applied by different hands and at different points in time. The darkest ink, identifying the document as referencing Ravenswood, West Virginia, is somewhat blue/purple in tonality compared to the rest and may have an aniline dye component. The iron gall inks are generally faded uniformly overall and exhibit no significant flaking.
The verso is more extensively discolored than the recto, primarily the left half, which has an overall mottled darkness which may be staining or embedded surface grime. The staining along the folds described in relation to the recto is also present on the verso and is somewhat darker in color. Also on the verso, in the location of the paper seal, is an area of orange/red staining. Within the lower left quadrant are two small accretions, possibly spots of ink or paint: there is a small red spot at the lower center and a dark brown spot within the lower left quadrant.
There are pressure sensitive acrylic tape donuts in multiple locations where it was secured to the prior housing, at the top and bottom left corners, the left center, and the bottom right corner.
