The Florence Flood
In November 1966 the city of Florence, Italy was torn apart by a ravaging flood. A group of specialists in the field of restoration and preservation of rare books and manuscripts arrived from around the world to assist the Italians in preserving the soggy, mud-soaked works of art and books from the citys renowned museums, galleries and libraries. One of the American experts sent was the late Harold Tribolet, former Manager of the Department of Extra Binding at R.R. Donnelley and Sons Company. He was chosen for this extraordinary project because of his outstanding work in the field of preservation and restoration of rare books, works of art on paper, documents and manuscripts. During his mission to Florence, Tribolet obtained many original news photographs of the flood-damaged libraries and museums. These are just a few photos from his incredible collection. In the photo above, the River Arno rages through Florence (LIFE Magazine Photo - David Lees, 1966, TIME, Inc.) click here for larger image
Damaged archives are removed to the Piazzale degli Uffizi from the flooded State Archives Building (CRIA Photo) click here for larger image	A hooded monk thrusts a hypodermic needle into the crumbling pages of an old document. The injection contains a vitamin preparation to restore suppleness to dried out fibers (UPI Photo) click here for larger image
Harold Tribolet (shown at left, pointing) and various officials inspect some of the damaged manuscripts they recovered click here for larger image	The drying operation at a tobacco factory. Some 200,000 items hang on 50-foot high racks (LIFE Photo) click here for larger image