Out of print Encyclopedia

Many of the people on this list who are familiar with my work would
probably agree that the most useful research tool I have written so far
has been the _Encyclopedia of Printing, Photographic, and
Photomechanical Processes_ (2 vols, 1989, 1990). This work was written
out of frustration when I realized that I was wasting a lot of my time
searching for some basic information about photographic and
non-photographic reproduction processes.

I had been researching the conservation aspect of photographic processes
for a dozen years when I decided to start on the Encyclopedia. During
those years I wrote several practical monographs on platinum printing,
carbon printing, etc., with specific chapters on conservation and
restoration. Along the way, I accumulated a lot of information that did
not fit into any of those books. This information was the basis of the
Encyclopedia.

It took another five years of work, until 1990, to complete the first
edition. The project left me with a unique education and a
library/collection large enough for a small museum: 700 volumes of
specialized books on the history of printing and photography and
thousands of files in boxes and filing cabinets. There are also many
research tools (i.e. databases) that cannot be found anywhere else in
the world, such as a detailed index to the St. Bride library catalog.
Regrettably, with the exception of what can be found in my books, this
material is not accessible to others. I get many requests from students
and specialists who would love to do an internship here but the
logistics involved do not make this easy. I am toying with the idea of
running a Summer Museum/Research Center in order to accommodate these
requests.

Work is still progressing, albeit at a slower pace. Aside from work
related to the Encyclopedia, I am currently working on six books.
Research is not getting easier. Our National Gallery Library no longer
makes its microfilm collection of early journals available off-site.
This is a serious problem and if anyone out there is in a position to
help with this situation it would be greatly appreciated. Microfilms are
commercially available but they are very expensive for someone who only
needs to use them briefly.

The consulting aspect of my business however, has gone up considerably
since the Encyclopedia appeared, and this makes me uncover new
information on a regular basis. Much of the consulting is done for free
and is available to students, conservators, historians, etc., *if* the
information requested can also be useful to one of my projects.

Someday I would like to double or triple the size of the Encyclopedia
but for the time being this is out of the question for financial
reasons. The "new" CD-ROM technology may make specialized publishing
feasible once CD-ROM readers are an integral part of most people's
personal computers.

There are about fifteen sets of the _Encyclopedia of Printing,
Photographic and Photomechanical Processes_ left. As is customary when
one of my books goes out of print, I make the last copies available to
institutional libraries only so that they can become accessible to as
many people as possible. The price is still the same: US $76 postpaid
for both volumes.

Luis Nadeau
Box 7, Site 4, R.R. 4
Fredericton, NB, Canada E3B 4X5
Fax: 506-450-2718

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 7:35
                Distributed: Saturday, October 23, 1993
                        Message Id: cdl-7-35-005
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