Creation Isolation

Not every Lawrenceville artifact held by the Stephan Archives in Bunn Library is suitable for display. Apart from the carefully catalogued items meticulously stored in climate-controlled cases, the three hundred or so pieces in the archives’ quarantine room — all affected by unremedied mold, pests, or rust — live a quiet life out of sight, awaiting conservation. The room is not connected to the library’s HVAC system, so as not to allow the circulating air to carry spores or other contaminants into the other sections of the archives.

The contents of the quarantine room include:

• Large felt banners from the nascent days of the Circle Houses
• A set-piece sign from the 1994 feature film I.Q., identifying Pop Hall as the film’s “Princeton Hospital”
• A penny-farthing bicycle, popular in the 1880s, marked by its inordinately large front wheel; it was used by the Cycling Club at the time
• Early 19^th-century vellum diplomas
• A handwritten 19^th-century financial ledger
• Older books (beetles and other pests crave the keratin-based glue used in the binding)
• A cast-iron fireplate once used in Foundation House’s Alumni Study fireplace dating to the early 19^th century and possibly owned by John Cleve Green; it was apparently stuffed up the fireplace’s chimney by mischievous students and went undiscovered for many years.