Literature

"Public Drive for Alkaline Paper Inspires New Action in the Mills." Publishers Weekly, July 21, 1989, p. 30, 32, 34, 37. After a short introduction there are sections on each of seven companies: Finch Pruyn, Glatfelter, International Paper, James River, Newton Falls, Penntech and Warren. Each company's leading book publishing grades are described, and its plans for the future are touched on. The Glatfelter spokesman said that demand for Glatfelter papers has continued strong in spite of the softening demand for paper generally this summer, and there was a growing number of requests for him to address interested groups on the subject of alkaline paper. The Penntech salesman said they were in the process of converting for two reasons: first, to produce paper with greater longevity ("We are being pushed by market forces"), and second, cost considerations.

"Benefits of Cationic Ground Calcium Carbonate," by Loreen Goodwin. Tappi Journal, Aug. 1989, p. 109-112. Good retention and opacifying power, matching that of KC, are advantages of the cationic form of ground calcium carbonate.

"Preserving Knowledge: The Case for Alkaline Paper" is ARL Briefing Package No. 3, Nov. 1988. It is sponsored by the Association of Research Libraries, the Commission m Preservation and Access, and the National Humanities Alliance. It brings together separate copies of papers and publications, 15 in all, from different sources. $7.00 from ARL, 1527 New Hampshire Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036.

"The Self-Destructing Book," by John F. Dean. Encyclopaedia Britannica Yearbook of Science and the Future, 1989. Pp. 212-225. A well-written history of the problem of brittle books, and of efforts to deal with it. The bibliography is short but well-chosen.

"Here Today... Gone Tomorrow" is a brochure issued by the Australian national organization of conservators, which is cooperating with the organizations of librarians and archivists and the national library to promote alkaline paper in that country.

Some of the history of Mohawk Paper Mills in Cohoes, NY, is recorded in the October 1987 Pulp & Paper, in an article entitled "Latest Wet End Chemistry helps Small Mill Strengthen Competitive Position." Mohawk converted to alkaline papermaking in the late 1960s, and later worked with a supplier to improve retention and drainage by using a silica colloid and cationic starch instead of polymers in the wet end.

What the Printer Should Know About Paper, 2nd ed., by William H. Bureau. GATF, 1989. 339 pp. $40 to nonmembers, + $3 for shipping and handling in the U.S. Graphic Arts Technical Foundation, 4615 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3796 (412/621-6941).

"Permanence of Paper: Novel Aspects," by John C. William. Encyclopedia of Materials Science & Engineering, 1st Suppl. (1988?) P. 377-380. Pergamon Press, Oxford, New York & other places. Summarizes recent developments in deacidification, strengthening, preservation practice and production of alkaline paper.

The National Preservation Program for the Biomedical Literature (Preservation Section, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD 20894, 301/496-8124) has an attractive brochure about the brittle book problem, some of the actions that have been taken in response to it, and an outline of the NLM's plan to preserve the biomedical literature. Entitled "Going... Going... Gone," and illustrated on three of its fold-out panels with gold and brown closeup photographs of brittle leather and paper, it also lists eight tips for care and handling. Copies of the complete plan are available; send a self-addressed mailing label to National Library of Medicine, Public Information Office, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894.

A 1928 article in the Library Journal (p. 712-715) calls for special rag editions of newspapers, as many articles about this time did; and at the end, it recommended that a bulletin be published giving a resume of all new efforts and developments in this field. For 60 years nobody acted an this recommendation, to the Editor's knowledge, but now we have the Alkaline Paper Advocate.

In the Walter Havighurst Special Collections at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) there is a papermaking formula book, with pasted-in samples of the papers made by each formula, from 1893. It was compiled by James Salter, Master Paper maker, who began his career in 1889 at E.B. Eddy in Hull, and moved to a different company every three or four years thereafter, at least during his early career. His formula for "No. 2 Book" reads like this:

1000 lb. Engine
2 boxes best rags
2 boxes bleached sulphite
3 bundles of wood
Balance bleached poplar
cup Blackley blue
small cup Rose Pink
lbs. Ultramarine Blue
pails clay
bags Agalite
pails size
3 1/2 pails alum

Other formulas in the book date from subsequent years.