Burying a Victorian Journal, And Why I Failed Chemistry

First, I believe salt is very corrosive on silver, so try to keep it off. Second, the best way to preserve paper, at least is to keep it somewhere dry. Are you sure it couldn't be hidden off the ground, rather than in it? And, if they were sealing letters and jars of preserves with wax, why not a box?

Glass or Ceramics, sealed in wax and wrapped in oil cloth...

If the jar's airtight, then the paper should be okay. Without being exposed to light or elements, then the writing should be preserved. well enough. The oil will help keep out water, which could seep in if something happened to the seal, but it will also keep out things like ants or mites or worms.

Salt is a corrosive and will damage the paper over a long period of time. It will even eat through the oil cloth...

Glass jars for preserving food were patented in 1858, so: will your journal (and box, if you still need it) fit in a Mason jar? If so, either the glass top with metal bail or the metal top and ring are available, and either could be coated with wax for greater security. Salt in the container will still probably wreak havoc on the contents. Although, if the journal were completely wrapped in leather, the salt might act as a preservative. (For the leather. Like a mummy.)

Lead box, lid soldered

waylander said:

Lead box, lid soldered

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Lead sounds good, is soldering allowed?

A lead box probably would serve, but a glass jar would also work. The pages probably were of high quality paper, so they would survive just fine. The leather cover probably would dry out, but I have read many books that have been on library shelves since the mid-1800's, ad they were still useful. Since books can survive, you should avoid any great attempt to preserve the journal.

Alessandra Kelley said:

Cheap wood pulp paper was invented around 1860, and while it revolutionized publishing, it's been devastating to preservationists. It's not just very cheap newsprint, although that goes bad way faster than other papers. A lot of good books from the last 150 years are slowly burning themselves up with their own acidity.

Your journal had best either predate 1860, or be very finely made with good cotton rag paper.

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Yup. I agree...cotton rag or potentially even vellum. (Although that would be crazy expensive.)

That said, some 150 year old books do still exist that were made on wood pulp, just if you go that way, it's going to be hard to read/very fragile etc. due to the acidity.

How much salt are we talking about here? Unless the amount is excessive, if the area is exposed to rain, that would cause it to dissolve and be distributed more widely through the soil, so the salt might not be a factor at all.

Tin doesn't rust. Iron rusts.

That's my small contribution here.

What comes to mind is something that my grandmother mentioned her mother doing when she was a girl (1920's): When G-Gramma wanted to preserve something, it was wrapped tight in clean cloth, put into a mason jar with a separator (usually metal or glass) and then she poured parafin wax atop the separator and sealed the mason jar. Gramma remembered it as weird, but that's how G-Gramma kept things like the deed to the house, wills, etc, all down in the root cellar. She always knew where it was, it wasn't going to accidently get lost or burn or whatever. Gramma assumed it was the turn-of-the-century farm equivalent to hiding things in the freezer before there were freezers.

Food for thought, at least.