Removing Photos from Scrapbooks - Best Practices/Tips?

[thecatspajamas]

I know this has probably been covered ad nauseum, but can anyone offer a quick rundown of best-practice methods for removing materials from old scrapbooks (or point to previous posts covering the subject would be fine)?

I have a scrapbook that I picked up that looks to have been assembled somewhere from the early 1900's to the 1930's that contains many period newspaper clippings along with postcards and some photos going back as early as 1902. The "scrapbook" itself appears to be a large wallpaper sample book that the scrapbooker then pasted the various mementos into. The scrapbook itself is large (15"x15"), heavy, bulging from the added material, and has grown very brittle with the cover and several pages being completely detached. I don't know what was used for glue, but peeking under the few items that have pulled free in some areas, the dried glue appears white. And unfortunately, the glue appears to have been applied over the entire back surface of each item rather than just dots at the corners.

I would also caution that I am a complete novice at this. In the past, when dealing with scrapbooks I have either popped the glued corners loose, leaving a portion of the scrapbook paper on the back of the photo (typically that black construction paper type), or just trimmed around the photo, leaving the entire back covered with the scrapbook paper. In this case though, the pages have items pasted on both sides, and everything is glued in VERY securely.

I've never tried "soaking" anything free from a scrapbook, and frankly, the idea of doing so with 100-year-old photos scares the hell out of me. Any and all tips and experiences will be appreciated. I'm going to photograph the entire book for posterity, but there are a number of pieces that I feel should be rescued from this rapidly-decaying book. The newspaper articles are interesting, but there is no hope of saving those short of just trimming around them. The main things I am wanting to rescue are the photos, and maybe some of the postcards.