«George Stephen Cantlie’s botanical specimens had been conserved pressed in the original letters/papers/envelopes for nearly 100 years. The flowers were dry, brittle and in some cases very fragile and discoloured. Botanical identification was made in accordance with the letters’ indications (dates, locations) for tentative scientific genus identification. The flowers only have historical significance in the context of the Cantlie’s archives, as a part of the correspondence addressed mainly to his daughter Celia. They are seen as item “objects” in the scope of description by the Canadian Council of Archives. As such they should not be separated from the records. The primary purpose of the assessment was to avoid altering the integrity of the objects. The original exhibit proposal included standing alone encasing flowers into transparent polymer type resin (“pastilles”), each one to be temporarily encased in a crystal sculpture for display purposes. In regard to further deterioration and historical conservation, this was not recommended as was displaying the flowers in stand-alone frames. Esthetic float mounting compositions of flowers and papers using polymer archival glue was done instead, with museum-recommended acrylic. These were realized by Céline Arseneault and Viveka Melki in the Spring of 2016 and were documented with available information in a preliminary archival description of the Cantlie Fonds.»