Posted By:
Greg ThebergeBill,
funny you should mention framing. I just got back from the framers a couple of minutes ago.
I had brought in two 1890s mini beer lithos to be framed. The big problem is that I did not want to cover up any of the borders at all as there was some important writing close the edge which I did not want to lose. The solution was to do a double glass mounting. The pictures will be gently attached to one pane of glass, then a second will be mounted over the first essentially pressing the pieces in between the two glass panes. A matt will then be placed behind the two pieces of glass, then a nice thick frame goes over the whole thing. This will also give the lithos a 3D effect coming off the matting.
I'm actually doing it at a Michaels arts and crafts strip mall shop. The guy was pretty knowledgable. Of course, all is archival matting and UV glass protection. The big plus is that there's a 50% sale going on now on custom framing and I actually had a coupon for 60%.
Hope that helps.
Greg
Oh by the way, as far as your question regarding getting rid of lines or pasting them to boards. Don't do the pasting by any means! Compressing the piece between the two panes of glass may help a lot, but there's also the route of preservation. I use a company in Chicago (Oppenheimers) that can take out creases and stains but it all depends on the value of the piece. I have a beautiful Factory Scene litho that is going out to them in a couple of weeks, but I anticipate the restoration will set me back at least a thousand which will be well worth it.