Literature

"Bonding in Papyrus and Papyrus-like Mats," by J. N. McGovern. Tappi 65(5): 159-162, May 1982. The author experimented with 22 plants including papyrus, corn stalk, and kung sho (rice paper tree). Bonding in pith resulted from hemicellulosic adhesion with press-drying, even the parts with 13% lignin. The woody parts (fibrovascular bundles) were non-bonding but added strength. Previous theories attributed bonding to an adhesive in the water or in natural gums, and hooking together of fibers. Modern papyrus is made at the Istituto del Papiro in Syracuse, Italy and at the Dr. Ragab Papyrus Institute in Cairo.

1983 Alkaline Papermaking. (Seminar Notes of the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry) TAPPI, 1983. (Order from TAPPI, Technology Park/Atlanta, PO Box 105113, Atlanta, GA 30348) 13 papers in 83 pages. $39.95. This book contains the proceedings of the April 1983 Alkaline Papermakers Conference, held in Portland right after the regular Papermakers Conference. A similar conference on alkaline papermaking was held in Boston in 1979, the first in this series.

"Yellowing of Stored Garments Solved." Chemical and Engineering News, March 26, 1984, p. 27. (One paragraph.) Apparently the garments were stored in warehouses, not museums. Cause of yellowing was found to be NO₂ in the air interacting with polyethylene wrappers containing butylated hydroxytoluene (BH₂). Alkaline finishes made it worse; acid finishes are recommended.

"Some Observations on Technology Implementation," by J. W. Atkins. Tappi Journal 66(4), 11, April 1983.

"Why does process technology progress at such a slow pace in our industry?... Linearity of process [i.e. so many processes that lie in sequential order, any One of which can ruin a batch if not done right]..., high capital cost to product value ratio [machines may cost a half billion dollars each, but the product is cheap]..., [and] performance evaluation [emphasis on bottom line discourages innovation and associated risk-taking]." To remedy this the author recommends stronger technical mill organizations and staff.

Proceedings of the 1980 Cambridge conference will be published about nine months from now, according to someone in the marketing department of Butterworth Publishers, which will be distributing it on this side of the Atlantic.

Noise Abroad will be a one-year newsletter published by Georgianna Greenwood from Germany as a kind of book arts travel diary or collection of letters home. Each issue will be "at least two pages (both sides)" and there will be six of them: December, February, April, June, August and October. For a copy of the attractive flier, write her at 1526 McGee Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94703. Subscriptions will be $15; make out checks to her.

Toward a Usable Past: Historical Records in the Empire State. Albany, New York State Historical Records Advisory Board, 1984. 74 pp.

This is one of a number of state archival self-studies supported by NHPRC, and the first comprehensive assessment of the condition of historical records programs in New York State. Careful organization and attractive presentation help the reader assimilate the generally bad news; findings and recommendations are summarized on p. 11-14 and presented in full elsewhere in the booklet.

Oils and Lubricants Used on Leather, by 0. H. Tuck. Northampton: Leather Conservation Centre, 1983. 22 p.

Describes oils and lubricants used in the manufacture of leather; provides generally clear, basic and much-needed information for conservators. A step in the right direction, though the information in this booklet can not be applied in conservation until we know which tannery processes can be adapted to give the sane effect in the conservation lab.

The Crafts Report for March has two articles on insurance. One describes the group insurance for members of the Professional Artists Business Guild in Portland, Oregon, and the other describes common misconceptions that cause problems in business insurance.

Fine Print now costs $36 per year, and $9 for a trial copy.

Islamic Bookbindings and Art of the Islamic Book, catalog of the exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum that ended April 3. Available from the Publication Office, Y & A Museum, Cromwell Rd., London SW7, England. 300 pp. Price not known.

SAA titles to be published in 1984:

Archives & Manuscripts: Photographs, by Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler, Gerald Munoff, and Margery Long

Archives & Manuscripts: Buildings and Facilities, by Timothy Ericson and Richard Cameron

"The Proper Storage and Display of a Photographic Collection," by Debbie Hess Norris. Picturescope 31(1), 4-8, Spring 1983.

Elementary advice, but there is a 22-item bibliography reflecting classic and recent research as well as handbooks with fuller treatments to supplement this article.

Library Trends: Technical Standards for Library and Information Science. 31(2), Fall 1982. James E. Rush, issue editor.

Not strong on preservation but gives basic background on the formal standards-setting procedure and describes the standards-setting organizations for libraries.

Books: Their Care and Repair, by Jane Greenfield, may be purchased for $22 from the H. W. Wilson Company, 9S0 University Ave., Bronx, NY 10452. This includes the material in the Yale series of booklets on mending and preservation procedures. It costs $26 outside the U.S. and Canada.

1984 Annual Book of ASTM Standards. A 12-page catalog of the 65-volume set of standards, which costs about $3000 with the index volume. Volumes can be ordered individually for $30-$60, usually. Volumes most relevant to conservation are:

11.03: Atmospheric Analysis; Occupational Health and Safety (706 pages, 68 standards)

New and updated ASTM standards are no longer listed in the ANSI catalogs.

Forthcoming: The Purchasing of New Binding Leather, and The Conservation of Leather Bindings, written by Betty Haines of the Leather Conservation Centre and BLMRA, for the British Library.

"Book Cradle Designs," by Karen Garlick. The Deckled Edge 4(1), 4-5, Spring 1984. Three types of cradles used at the Folger Shakespeare Library are described, with sketches and diagrams. The Deckled Edge is published by the Baltimore Area Conservation Group and is sent out by Laurie Baty, Editor, 713 Park Ave., 3A, Baltimore, MD 21201.

"Prod Your Customers to Pay Their Bills on Time, or Take them to Small Claims Court if They Don't," by Leonard DuBoff. Crafts Report 10: 3, April 1984. The author is Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon and Past President of the Oregon Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.

Overexposure: Health Hazards in Photography, by Susan Shaw. Friends of Photography, 1983. 328 pp. Soft cover ed. available for $14.95 + $1.50 from the Center for Occupational Hazards; hard cover ed. available from the Friends of Photography.

Richard D. Smith's nonaqueous system of mass deacidification, in use on a continuous basis at the Canadian Public Archives in Ottawa, has gotten a lot of attention from the media lately, both directly and incidentally. This is good not only for Dr. Smith, who deserves some reward for his years of hard work and creative thinking, but for conservation as a whole. There were three items:

1. "A Well-Documented Solution." DuPont Magazine 77(6): 17-19, Nov.-Dec. 1983. Describes the Public Archives operation.

2. "Creative Bookkeeping," by Joel Schwarz. American Way (published by American Air Lines): 58-60, March 1984. Surveys the problem of paper deterioration and the various forms of deacidification. Includes quotes from Daniel Boorstin, James Craven, John Hyltoft, Barclay Ogden, Bob Parliament, Jan Pidek and Richard Smith.

3. A two-minute video tape by the American Chemical Society about the Wei T'o process as an example of the benefits that chemistry can bring to society. It was scheduled to go out to cable TV networks and major TV stations in April.

"Edith Diehl, American Hand Binder," by E. A. Thompson, Jr. The New Library Scene 3(1): 1, 4, 14, February 1984.

If you missed this article the first time around in 1949, in Bookbinding and Book Production, and the second time around in December 1980 in the Abbey Newsletter, now's your chance. Take note, though, that the editor has made--or allowed to be made--a number of changes in the text. The bibliography is omitted; Rudolph Euken's name is misspelled Eiken; "Prevention" is rendered "Preservation"; and "vigor and intensity" has become "grace and vigor (perhaps because it sounds more feminine?). Neither this nor the Abbey Newsletter reproduces the five illustrated bindings in the original.

Victorian Publishers' Book-Bindings in Paper, by Roan McLean. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983 or 1984. $45.