Literature

The Book: Art and Object, by Philip Smith, has met with delay. Owing to last-minute problems beyond the printers' control, the dispatch of most of the special edition and much of the ordinary edition will bc delayed until mid-November. Philip Smith apologizes for any inconvenience caused and thanks those who have ordered copies for their great patience in awaiting the book's publication.

Bernard C. Middleton, "English Craft Bookbinding 1880-1980," The Private Library, Winter 1981. A long essay, illustrated with photographs of typical workshops of the period; favorably reviewed in The Gold Leaf (Newsletter of the Hand Bookbinders of California), September 1982, by Robert Failing.

J. L. Garnett and Adel Koura gave papers at the September 30 meeting of the Institute of Paper Conservation in London, on the theme of "New Approaches to the Treatment of Brittle Paper." It is not known whether these papers will be published or made available. Their titles were, respectively: "The IN Rapid Cure Treatment of Brittle Paper" (this method was reported in the ANL for January 1980, in an article on Garnett's earlier work) and "Aging of Paper: Aging Mechanism, Factors Affecting the Aging Resistance and Newly Developed Methods in Conservation and Restoration of Paper" (probably related to the work he described in his letter to ANL in February of this year).

The Crafts Council's series on Science for Conservators begins publication this fall. Titles of individual volumes, with planned publication dates, are:

An Introduction to Materials - September
Cleaning - October
Adhesives and Coatings - December

Others are in preparation. Order from Crafts Council, 12 Waterloo Place, London SWlY 4AU. The cost of the books in $31 for the set if ordered before November 1; payment must accompany order. Individually, they are $11.50, $11.50, and $12.00 respectively.

Proofs of one or two of these volumes were available for examination at the IIC Conference. They are truly remarkable, in that six to nine expert authors and advisors have collaborated on each volume. They have set out reliable, carefully selected and understandable information for the beginner, who until now has generally (unless he was in conservation school and had good preparation) had to make do with either technical works over his head, or guides published by partly-informed enthusiasts. (Such enthusiasts, the ANL editor included, often acquire their sympathy for beginners and their urge to help and instruct them, as a result of their own experience in self-instruction. They serve a real function in a new field, but serious beginners need quality instruction right from the start.)

Fritz Wiese. Der Bucheinband: Historische und neuartige Einbände. Schlütersche Verlagsanstalt und Druckerei -GmbH & Co., Georgswall 4, 3000 Hannover 1. 1981. ISBN 3-87706-301-2. Full of tantalizing diagrams of headbands, board attachments, clasps, visible sewing (to show on outside of spine), structures for books with flat inflexible spines, innovative structures for books with flexible spines, and so on.

A Glossary for Recording the Condition of an Artifact. Compiled by Deborah F. Fewett, Ottawa, National Inventory Programme, 1981. 84 pp. [For more information on this publication, write Jane McAusland, The Editor, Institute of Paper Conservation, P0 Box 17, London WC1N 2PE, England.]

"Basic Preservation Library," prepared by the Education Committee, Preservation of Library Materials Section, Resources and Technical Services Division, American Library Association, July 1982. 8 pp. typescript. 38 items; includes series and periodical titles as items. Prices are given f or most items in this edition of the list. Total: about $600. Write the ALA at 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611.

The Office of Museum Programs, Smithsonian Institution, will have four new "Audiovisual Loan Programs" for distribution in late fall.

Slide-cassette Programs:
The Care of East Asian Paintings on Silk and Paper
Tribal Archives

Videotapes:
Millimeter Bookbinding
Protecting Cultural Property - Part I

Jamie Kamph (formerly Jamie Shalleck). A Collector's Guide to Bookbinding. Oak Knoll Books, 414 Delaware St., New Castle, DE 19702. 1982, Printed by Bird & Bull Press, bound by the Eberhardts; slim & elegant; $75 plus shipping. Limited edition of 250.

Two archival societies have begun to include four-page inserts on conservation in their newsletters. Since they are unpaged and printed on different colored paper, they can be separated for continuing use without disturbing the rest of the newsletter.

The Society of American Archivists' SAA Newsletter has an insert on "Implementing a Conservation Program" in its September issue and the Conservation Committee of the Society of Mississippi Archivists has an insert (Leaflet No. 1) on "The Effects of the Environment on Paper" in its August issue.