"Out, Damned Spot?" The Staining of the Proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1982.

This article is an account of what happened when a vandal irreparably damaged an original copy of the Proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1982 at the (then) Public Archives of Canada while it was being shown to him. The writer of this piece, who was the victim of this malicious act, traces events in chronological order and shows how the document was created, its purpose~ how it was stained, steps taken to restore it. and its value. As a result of the disaster, the Public Archives reevaluated procedures for handling prestigious documents in order to better protect them from harm. It also had to deal with an important ethical question -- to what extent should conservators go to restore a document without affecting its authenticity and integrity? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]