How To Remove 150-Year-Old Glue?

This may be an exercise in futility, but it's worth a shot...

150 years ago clerks didn't use staples or tape to collate paperwork. They frequently brushed glue/adhesive onto the left edges of documents to affix related paperwork together or to affix checks or receipts to corresponding ledger pages.

Is there a way to loosen/dissolve this glue to separate the documents that doesn't involve immersion in liquid?

For modern items, a heat gun held over across tape, retail stickers, etc. with constant movement will frequently loosen it to the point where they can be removed without residue, without damaging any underlying items. But the older or longer something has been affixed, the less viable this method is.

I've got some billheads, receipts, and checks that I want to separate from the documents they are affixed to without damaging either document.

Any suggestions?

I also have a question about glue residue. Is there any good method for removing stamps from the old photo albums with sticky strips for holding items in place? Magic-Mount is one brand. I received two of these albums with stamps in them. Some of the stamps popped right off the pages and others won't budge without damage. Some of the stamps that came off have stains from the glue and I know these are probably trashed. I tried the freezer method and that worked on a few. Thanks for any suggestions, or should I just throw them all in the trash. Nothing of much value in either one.

I would try and use a heat gun or hair dryer on those wax strip photo album pages. Unfortunatly they may end up with an oil like residue stain on backside which might eventually migrate through to the front, or transfer to album pages when mounted. If common and they are mint and damaged I would use for postage. Good luck.

Revenue collector. If the glue is amber or resin colored it may be brittle and crack loose with a bump between two hard surfaces.

A person who restores old paintings or removes damage and attempts to archivally improve the paintings may have knowledge of various adhesives of the period, and what solvents can be used to safely remove adhesives. You may try to contact a museum, or business that is familiar with adhesive removal.

So I reached out to several museums and conservation organizations. Of the (very!) few that even responded to my inquiry, none could or would offer any advice or recommendations via email, presumably for liability reasons. However they were more than happy to assess my documents for $150-200 per hour (note that is just for assessment, not any actual work).

They're understandbly used to dealing with items worth many thousands of dollars, where such an investment is justified. In my case though, we're talking about generic 19th century billheads, checks, and receipts, typically worth $2-20 each at most. Not worth spending the money IMO.

So it's back to experimentation:

1. Freezing. Unsuccessful.

2. Heat gun. Unsuccessful.

3. Ironing (discussed in another thread). Unsuccessful.

4. Soaking in hot water. Successful. After a few minutes, the documents (and stamps) floated free. Somewhat as expected, as animal glue is water-soluble. Downside is that the documents must be pressed dry and any stamps reaffixed in original position.

I want to try pinpoint high humidity to see if that will dissolve the glue without exposing the entire document to water.

I'm still a bit gunshy about using water-based solutions, especially partial ones, given the toning/spotting that water can introduce.

But otherwise I'm out of ideas.

My experience over the years is what I was told 50+ years ago. Most of the glue used at that time is not going to come apart. It was old fashioned "horse glue", and it is permanent. And it stains.