I'm currently getting ready to paint in my home that is close to 100 years old, I love the plaster in the house best inulation/sound barrier you could ask for. The main draw back is the cracking, I'd like to find a way to repair the cracks before painting. One room has something that is on the celing that is like wall paper nad looks to have covered the cracks, if this is what needs to be done to repair things than so be it but what is it and where do I find it. I would really rather fix the crack rather than covering them up. Any advise on fixing these cracks is apreciated.
:)

Where is it cracking? It is cracking near a corner or an edge? Being an old house, I wouldn't be surprised if cracks re-apear no matter what you do, due to the house expanding and contracting in different seasons.

The 'paper' was typical for the old homes around that era.

It held the plaster in place when cracks and settling occurred.(as british bill stated).

Repairs can be done with:

Removal of the lose paper around the damaged or cracked area.

Dampening the effected area for better adhesion of new plaster.This is touchy,I have had limited success with this, being as the old paper might begin to peel off slightly,test a small area and see if this occurs,if so,a thinned out Elmers glue and water mix will repair the problem.

ANY type of replacement plaster, including 'period' type(historically correct), durabond90(quick drying/ie,90 min) and many more,too many to actually list.

Keeping the new plaster from the old paper might also be a good idea for the same reasons as above(peeling paper)

Hope this helps,

Ken

Are the surface areas of any of the areas that are cracking also textured? That will also make a difference in how you finish them after repairing the cracks in preparation for painting.