Literature

The Mold Reporter, v.1 #3, May 2001:

• Toxic mold protocol for tenants - by Don Vrana, reprinted from http://www.themoldsource.com/
• Scientific proof and the implications of legal liability
• How ventilation can control microbial growth (summary of the 1998 Restaurator article by Nieves Valentín et al.)
• Chlorine dioxide (2 pp.)
• Mycotoxins
• The final solution: Moldy house burned to ground
• Ballard family wins large settlement against Farmers Insurance
• Grad student sues Columbia University
• Class action mold suit against UC Berkeley
• Literature. This reviews two important documents: EPA's wonderful Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings and the Mayo Clinic's research report on chronic sinus infections, now known to be caused almost exclusively by mold.

The Mold Reporter, v.1 #4, July 2001:

• The carpet controversy (Pro-carpet: 1 corporation. Anti-carpet: 1 charitable organization & 1 research lab)
• The question of ozone, Part 1 (a condensation of EPA's "Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners.")
• ASTM property management standards. Good for assessing loss, damage, or destruction of property.
• Can mycotoxins be removed from personal property? by E. McCrady. Most sources consulted are on the Internet; some relate to biological warfare. 2 pp.
• Mold test kits for the consumer (5 in all).
• Time to be proactive against mold (by a builder, Lucy Katz)
• Common misperceptions. (Stretching the truth to dodge responsibility for mold)
• Events (14 of them, in the U.S. and Europe)
• -It takes more than low RH to control mold. (Dusting, inspection, air movement & consistent environmental control, plus the usual things: clean ducts, etc.)
• Literature (8 items)
• Human guinea pigs. Fourteen employees volunteer for a role in Dr. Craner's research project to connect presence of mold with subsequent illness.

The subscription price for The Mold Reporter went up to $35/year for individuals in August 2001.

Bioaerosols, Fungi and Mycotoxins: Health Effects, Assessment, Prevention and Control. Updated and Revised Reprint [2nd ed.]. Edited by Eckardt Johanning. [Published by] Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY; Department of Community Medicine; [and] Fungal Research Group, Inc. (FRG). [The 1999 proceedings of the 1998 conference had been published by the first two of these organizations, plus the Eastern New York Occupational & Environmental Health Center.] Supported by the Fungal Research Group (FRG), Inc. Paperback. ISBN 0-9709915-0-9. New price: $34.50, plus shipping: $6.50. To order, call 800-877-2693.

The editor wrote a new introduction for the second edition, saying that this edition contains a) "some minor corrections and updates requested by a few authors," 2) a summary of the "current state of knowledge" formulated at the recent Bioaerosols, Fungi and Mycotoxins satellite meeting in Espoo, Finland, in connection with the Health Buildings conference August 2000; c) the revised "New York City Dept. of Health Mold Remediation Guidelines"; d) a three-page list of websites recommended by authors, e) a 28-page update section, and f) an author index.

Quinio: International Journal on the History and Conservation of the Book Year 1, 1999, 1. 229 pp. Editor: Carlo Federici. Published by the Istituto Centrale per la Patologia del Libro (ICPL). Issued twice yearly. (No ISBN or ISSN.) Annual subscription: 51.6 Euros (about $52) from ICPL, via Milano 76, I-00184 Rome (patlib@tin.it).

Quinio is the successor to the ICPL's Bolletino, which had been published since 1938. It is intended to "go beyond the cramped confines of national borders" and work to "break down the barriers that still separate the history of books from the spheres linked to preservation and restoration." Papers may be in French, English, Italian, Spanish, or German, with a short summary in English. This issue contains five papers in English, three in Italian, and one each in French and German.

The English articles include:

• Applications of electron spin resonance spectroscopy in the field of cultural heritage - D. Attanasio and M.C. Emanuele
• Some codicological observations on the early Hebrew codex - M. Beit-Arié
• The material analysis of ancient manuscripts as a tool for the study of their history - M. Palma
• The paper as observed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy - A. L. Segre

The five articles in other languages include the following. Denis Muzerelle's article, "Pour décrire les schémas de réglure. Une méthode de notation symbolique applicable aux manuscrits latins (et autres)," concerns description of ruling schemes. One of the Italian articles is on a termite infestation in the library and archives of Palermo. There are two papers on codicology of very early books, and one on an early example of gilding in a western binding (1431).

Correction: About 15 months ago, a line was dropped from an item in the Literature section in this newsletter. It should have read:

"The Stability of Photocopied and Laser-printed Documents and Images: General Guidelines" (Technical Bulletin #22) By David Grattan. $6 US from Canadian Conservation Institute (fax 613/998-4721). 8 pp.

"The Guidelines say that black and white copies on alkaline paper, using carbon-based toner, are very stable, but color copies are not."

Le Papier au Moyen Âge: Histoire et techniques. Bibliologia 19: Elementa ad librarium studia pertinentia. Edited by Monique Zerdoun Bat-Yehouda. Proceedings of the international conference of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, 23-25 April 1998. Brepols Publishers n.v., Turnhout, Belgium, 1999 (e-mail: publishers@brepols.com). ISBN: 2-503-50941-X. 280 pp.

Seven of the papers (by Malachi Beit-Arié, Richard Hills, Albert J. Elen, Maria Carmen Hidalgo Brinquis, Denis O. Tsypkin and Robert W. Allison/James Hart) are in English, and the other 14 are in French. Illustrations are black-and-white maps, plenty of watermarks, drawings, diagrams of the proposed Watermark Initiative database project design and a dedicated search engine overview for the Watermark Initiative, images of sheet structure, pictures of early Coptic manuscripts from around 1000 AD, and a picture of a man making paper by the most ancient technique, with his mould lying on the ground, ingredients being added by hand from a small dish, and stirred by a stick.

Peter R.Tschudin opened the conference with his paper on the history of papermaking from its origin in Asia to the Renaissance in Europe. The first half of the book covers paper without watermarks (Persia, Far East, Greece, Egypt, Hebrew, Spain) and the second half has 12 papers, five of which are accompanied by transcriptions of the discussions that followed the individual papers. These transcriptions and the bibliographical footnotes, along with the scholarly papers themselves, make this book a valuable reference source.

The papers on "Watermarked Papers" in the second half of the book do not focus on a geographical area, but on aspects of watermarks, methods for the study of watermarked paper, and so on. Richard Hills' paper is on the importance of laid and chain line spacing.

La Carta Occidentale nel Tardo Medioevo. 2 vols. By Ezio Ornato, Paola Busonero, Paola F. Munafò, and M. Speranza Storace. Preface by Carlo Federici. Tome I: Problemi Metodologici e Aspette Qualitativi. 418 pp. Tome II: Misure Strumentali Tipologia e Struttura delle Forme. 492 pp. Available for 93 Euros; can be ordered by fax (+39 6 4814968) or e-mail (patlib@tin.it) from Istituto Centrale di Patologia del Libro, Via Milano, 76, I-00184 ROMA. Credit cards are accepted.

The publisher's blurb says:

"The two volumes titled La carta occidentale nel tardo medioevo represent the fruit of ten years documentation gathered by researchers engaged on 'Progetto carta.' They make available to scholars the initial results of large scale archaeological observations on a corpus of manuscripts and printed books.

"The first volume contains description guidelines and the methodologies of experimental observation employed throughout the research. Sources are accounted for, including those archaeological—sheets of paper dating to the medieval age—and those of a documentary nature—regulations, contracts, judicial acts, account books, excise papers, and also watermarks. The advent of typography as a fundamental factor contribution to the accelerated development of papermaking techniques is also evaluated.

"The second volume analyses the qualitative aspects of medieval paper and the material characteristics and typologies of moulds.

"The team's work is not yet complete and a volume dedicated to the watermark is under preparation. Our object is to establish at the Istituto centrale di patologia del libro a research and documentation center to serve as a fixed point of reference for paper historians and conservators."