Varnish to seal cardboard/leather etc on a 1930s travelling trunk!

[BieneMaja]

Many many moons ago my Jewish Grandfather arrived in London from Nazi Germany. He had a travelling trunk with him which I have just inherited.

Its in a bit of a state, quite bashed about (but thats part of the charm really) and it has a lot of stickers and bits and bobs on it. It is essentially kind of cardboardy material with leather parts.

I want to paint it in some sort of clear varnish to preserve its current state and try and use it in my home.

Can anyone recommend a sealing varnish? Something like you might use on a collage or similar?

It would be a shame to have to dump it now but its really not usable/presentable in its current state :(

I'd give it a coating of PVA glue (cheap option) or clear resin (expensive)

Obviously not having seen it I don't know whether any of the inks on the stickers etc would bleed so it's chancy.

Obviously it'll only be a decorative item so it won't have to stand up to wear and tear, just dust.

I'd avoid anything solvent based as I'd imagine this would be more likely to mess with the inks on the stickers. Other than that I"m not sure.

Thanks. Yes I think PVA glue might be a good start, I might give that a go. I'm really not sure it's salvageable at all at the moment but I feel like i should try!

I have a 1900s steamer trunk and used a matt acrylic varnish on the stickers/labels, was fine.

Waterproof ModgePodge or maybe Yacht varnish, which is very hardwearing,