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Title: Ounce of Preservation: A Guide to the Care of Papers and Photographs by Craig A. Tuttle ISBN: 1-56825-021-5 Publisher: Rainbow Books, Inc. Pub. Date: March, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.75 (4 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A Conservator's Review
Comment: As a guide book written specifically for lay persons, An Ounce of Preservation has an educational mandate. As such, it is compelled to offer well-researched and accurate information in all details. At the same time, it attempts to simplify a highly complex field to fit the format of a short booklet that can be understood by a reader who has never concerned himself with document preservation before. The main dilemma of this book becomes apparent at the point where these two goals meet: simplification versus accuracy - can both coexist? Some critical observations must be made that demonstrate how the author has compromised the accuracy of his text by falling into some of the traps of over-simplification.
In the process of simplification, information must be excluded, and the choice of what to omit and what to highlight is not an easy one, particularly in view of the rich history of photographic processes. The guiding principle should be to describe foremost the processes most likely to be encountered by the family historian in his personal collection of historic documents. Unfortunately, Tuttle has decided to concentrate on less common processes. He mentions gelatin based black and white prints in only one sentence, and almost as an afterthought (p. 28), although this process accounted for the vast majority of all photographic prints for about 70 years. Collodion prints, though widespread and likely to be present in every album that goes back at least to the 1880s, are not even mentioned once. Rather, the author describes negatives in detail and even dedicates two sentences to albumen coated glass plates, which never abounded and are exceedingly rare today.
Complex cause/effect relationships may become too difficult to describe in short paragraphs, but their simplification can easily lead to slight or great inaccuracies, as can be seen throughout the book. The use of parentheses as a space saving method of explaining a former term can lead to misunderstandings, as for example with the description of the calotype process, which "involved the application of silver iodide (a light-sensitive solution) to a sheet of paper..." (p. 24). Silver iodide may be light-sensitive, but it is not a solution, as Tuttle's wording implies. Silver iodide is in fact insoluble in water, and can thus only be formed on the paper fibres by the subsequent application of two aqueous solutions to the paper surface: that of potassium iodide and that of silver nitrate. Had the author formulated his explanation accurately, he might have written, for example: "...involved the precipitation of light-sensitive silver iodide on a sheet of paper". The use of chlorides was actually more common than that of iodides at that time.
Next to shortening by exclusion of information, the author has chosen to use what he calls plain language - a term that indicates that he is avoiding complex language which the lay reader could not understand. In going down this path, Tuttle uses a terminology that implies that the issue at hand is really more complicated than he can expect the reader to grasp. One of the most used terms in this book is "pH-balanced", which is neither defined, nor used consistently in one sense. The true meaning of this term, which, incidentally, is not commonly used in conservation literature, remains elusive no matter how long it is contemplated. In An Ounce of Preservation it is used to describe any material that is archivally "good", but it does not, for example, differentiate between paper with an alkaline reserve (p. 15) and that which is pH neutral (p. 59). Should a family genealogist come to me as a trained conservator and ask if he should use "pH-balanced" paper to house his negatives, I could only respond with a blank look on my face. Tuttle misses the important opportunity in this and other cases to give his readers the adequate vocabulary to communicate on an appropriate level with professional conservators.
On a positive note, the author has kept the chapter on repair and cleaning very basic (p. 63). The techniques he describes are among those that are considered standard preservation measures in the contemporary understanding of minimal intervention. Any complex treatment, Tuttle stresses, should only be carried out by a professional conservator. This makes it clear that many treatments can easily lead to greater damage if carried out lightheartedly. The inclusion of a description of the ethics and complexities of the work of a conservator as well as definitions of basic terminology might have been beneficial, however, as self-help books will often give the reader the impression that a do-it-yourself approach will always work.
The absolute condemnation of the lamination of documents (pp. 45-46) brings up the concept of reversibility, which is fundamental (even if impossible to comply with) for the understanding and application of conservation treatments. Although the book does cover many sources of deterioration and gives hints on housing documents, the most important advice is missing: how to actually handle your papers and prints. The ground rules should be clearly stated at the beginning of the chapter on storage and care (p. 55): maintain a clean workspace, refrain from smoking, eating and drinking in the presence of important documents, and simply wash your hands before handling them. Humans, after all, are the greatest source of danger to documents.
Despite the many small inaccuracies, omissions, and simply false statements, such as the definition of relative humidity in the glossary (p. 93), distributed throughout the book, An Ounce of Preservation does install in the reader a sense of appreciation for those old papers and faded photographs in the basement. This is an important achievement in itself. Apparently, an expanded second edition of this book is in preparation. One must hope that, prior to publication, Craig Tuttle will submit his manuscript to a paper conservator and photo historian for review, so that his book can advance from being 'recommendable with reservations and in view of the lack of alternatives' to 'wholly recommendable' from the conservator's point of view.
Rating: 5
Summary: Perfect for the beginning family historian!
Comment: With no background in caring for old photos and papers, I was in a quandry over what to do with the box full of items left to me by my deceased uncle. I didn't have the money for a professional to refresh and repair the photos, many of which suffered from long years of neglect. So I went online in search of a publication that would tell me where to start. An Ounce of Preservation provided me, a true archival dummie, with the groundwork I needed to begin the restoration project. As I sent off for information from companies listed in the appendix of the book, I learned more and more, unti I now feel like a blooming expert! I have a great scrapbook of my uncle's photos that I can pass on to my grandchildren, and it's a scrapbook that takes care of the items instead of aiding in their destruction. Without all the easy-to-follow techniques and many, many leads for more information provided in the book, I doubt if I would have ever had the courage to tackle the job myself. And since I didn't have the money for professional help, all those precious items of family history would still be deteriorating away in my closet. I contacted the publisher (to find out how to contact the author) only to learn that a greatly expanded second edition of this book is in the works. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn the basics -- it was all news to me!
Rating: 2
Summary: An Ounce of Information
Comment: "An Ounce of Preservation" is more aptly described as a pamphlet which delivers only the most BASIC information that most people nowadays regard as common knowledge. The reader looking for practical help, such as what solution to use to clean a smudged photo from the twenties, will find very little to go by (no more than a three-sentence paragraph for the cleaning of old photos). This thin book might have been more successful if the author had limited his scope and treated his subject in more detail. As it is, it's a lot to pay for text that can be read in less than an hour.
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Title: A Preservation Guide: Saving the Past and Present for the Future by Barbara Sagraves ISBN: 0916489590 Publisher: Ancestry Publishing Pub. Date: September, 1995 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Conservation Concerns: A Guide for Collectors and Curators by Konstanze Bachmann, Dianne Pilgrim ISBN: 1560981741 Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press Pub. Date: April, 1992 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Dating Old Photographs 1840-1929 by Halvor Moorshead, Jeff Chapman, Family Chronicle ISBN: 0968507638 Publisher: Moorshead Magazines Ltd Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: How to Clean, Repair, Store and Display Your Heirloom Papers and Photographs by Martha Ellen Webb ISBN: 0963169998 Publisher: Making History Pub. Date: March, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: How to Care for Works of Art on Paper by Francis W. Dolloff, Roy L. Perkinson ISBN: 0878462546 Publisher: Museum of Fine Arts Boston Pub. Date: 1985 List Price(USD): $6.00 |
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