HOW TO SHIP A SCROLL INTERNATIONALLY

There are many ways to ship a scroll.  This one, however, taught to me many years ago, protects your work best.  International post is notoriously ungentle, and sadly you should not expect any scroll to be handled in any way but roughly.

Here, therefore, are Ari's rules for scroll shipment, tried and tested in the post of many different countries including the US.

1.       Measure your piece of parchment.

2.      Put your scroll inside a plastic slip to protect it from chafing and/or damp.

3.      Cut 2 pieces of heavy duty cardboard bigger than your parchment by at least ¾” on all sides.  At least one of the pieces of cardboard should be heavy duty enough that it will not bend without serious effort (i.e., plasma screen boxes, speaker boxes, computer boxes).

4.      Place bubble wrap on one of the pieces of card.

5.      Place your scroll on top of the bubble wrap.

6.      Place bubble wrap on top of the scroll.

7.      Put the other piece of cardboard on.

8.      Put a piece of tape on each side (masking or stencil work well) of the scroll sandwich.  Turn the end of each piece under so that it can be peeled back easily.

9.      Put the whole caboodle in a padded envelope. 

10.  Write “FRAGILE” on it, or use “Fragile/With Care” stickers.

11.  Write “Please do not bend.  Thank you” on both sides of the envelope.

You can just ship in one of those envelopes that has very light cardboard as one side, but many shipped that way to me have arrived either creased or rolled.  None of mine that I have packaged in the above manner has ever arrived damaged (knock on wood).  The packaging and cardboard can be recycled or, even better, reused!

In service,

Arianrhod o Gymru

Insulae Draconis Signet

PS.  Another thing to be aware of:  if you have a lot of gold/gilding on the scroll, it may delay it.  I have only sent one heavily gilt scroll to Germany; it took 6-7 WEEKS to arrive....  Also make sure there are no staples or anything metal in the cardboard.