History of late 19th- early 20th century paper and parchment conferences

I am finishing a book that covers this subject area, and in my
experience the best sources of information are the primary
ones--conference reports, letters between attendees, internal
institutional memoranda, etc.  Secondary and tertiary sources often
provide only summaries of a few sentences, and frequently they seem
to simply repeat what others have said.  As a result, in the areas I
have researched these repetitions can build a skewed or limited
sense of what was covered, who thought what, and why.

I have also found it critical to remember that a conservator and a
librarian sometimes take very different information from the same
primary source, so reading a secondary source may not even refer to
information that would be important to you.

The most important book in this subject area is Claire Marwick's An
Historical Study of Paper Document Restoration Methods  (Master's
thesis, The American University, Washington, D.C.), 1964.  Available
from

    UMI Dissertation Services/A Bell and Howell Company,
    1-800-521-0600.

She is the source from which many later writers quote and
paraphrase.

For preparation of my own book, Ms. Marwick generously gave me all
the notes, library call slips, correspondence, and drafts that she
used in researching her book; and my own digging has led me to many
additional sources.  I would be happy to point you toward specific
references in the subject areas that you plan to cover.

Christine Smith
Alexandria, Virginia 22310
U.S.A.
703-960-4410


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 24:37
                 Distributed: Sunday, February 6, 2011
                       Message Id: cdl-24-37-028
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