Daguerreotypes

Owen Bradford <owen.bradford [at] newcastle__ac__uk> writes

>My special collections librarian has recently brought me around a
>dozen daguerreotypes from approximately 1840 in the hope that I can
>preserve/restore the faint images they portray.

As we all know, daguerreotype conservation is problematic, at best.

Any of the "silver dip" methods should be avoided because of the
deposits they leave on the plate, causing further damage.

M. Susan Barger, et. al., have published widely on other methods of
removing cleaning, none of which are reversible. See Barger and
William White's The Daguerreotype: Nineteenth Century Technology and
Modern Science, (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press,
1991)

Also, Barger, M. Susan, "Daguerreotype Care for the Collector," The
Daguerreian Annual 1991 (Arcata, CA: The Daguerreian Society, 1991),
27-32. The appendix to the article (p. 32) lists 17 articles by
Barger and her colleagues on daguerreotype care and conservation.
Susan may be reached at: barger [at] unm__edu

If your collection contains such rare outdoor views, I would urge
extreme caution. Improving the housing to seal out oxidants might be
your best bet.

Laurie A. Baty
Program Officer
National Historical Publications and Records Commission
Washington, DC
Editor, Views, the Newsletter of the Visual Materials Section,
Society of American Archivists
Editor, The Daguerreian Annual

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 9:11
                 Distributed: Wednesday, July 19, 1995
                        Message Id: cdl-9-11-001
                                  ***