February 2010
FEBRUARY MEETING
On Wednesday February 18, 2010 at 7:30 PM the SDCWRT will hold its 283rd meeting at Palisades Presbyterian Church, 6301 Birchwood St., San Diego CA 92120.
This month our guest speaker will be Dr. Joe Wagner on “Civil War Medicine.”
The state of medical and surgical practice during the American Civil War remained primitive with almost no scientific foundation. Based entirely on experience with what worked in previous centuries, doctors were surprisingly effective in the care of the sick and wounded. New discoveries in science and technology were not far off, but still just beyond their horizon. The existence of bacteria remained unknown. The germ theory of disease was yet to be determined. X-rays not yet discovered
His initial curiosity in exploring this subject was the matter of anaesthesia. The first successful public demonstration of anaesthesia took place at the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1846. When the Civil War began 15 years later, did the surgeons know about and use anaesthesia?
We will see the answers to those questions during this presentation on “Civil War Medicine”.
January 2010 Meeting by Travis Fuqua
Before the presentation on January 20, 2010, SDCWRT Preservation Chairperson, Carla Schwartz provided more information on the Wilderness in Virginia and Fort Gaines in Alabama, to both of which, the SDCWRT voted in September 2009 to send money for preservation.
Wilderness, Va.
Preservationists are trying to get Wal-Mart to move its proposed site for a Superstore to a nearby site elsewhere in the county. In the meantime, in September of last year, a lawsuit has been filed against the Orange County Board of Supervisors, who made a decision to approve a special use permit for a Wal-Mart Supercenter and associated development. While litigation is never a preferable outcome, the preservation community feels strongly that when an irreplaceable national treasure is at risk, it is our duty to exhaust all reasonable means of opposition before surrendering a site to sprawl. The Board failed to obtain critical information about the historic importance of the Wal-Mart site. It relied exclusively of analysis provided by Wal-Mart, without securing independent review of those findings. The proposed Wal-Mart site, which would also include 100,000 square feet of other commercial development, is unprotected land within the historic boundaries of the Wilderness Battlefield and is immediately adjacent to the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
Fort Gaines, Ala.
In the Civil War Preservation Trust’s list of the most endangered battlefields, Fort Gaines remains in the top ten.
In addition to the information about the Wilderness and Fort Gaines, Mrs. Schwartz added that the SUVCW, Sgt. William Pittenger Camp 21, is collecting money to erect a State Historical Marker near Lake Henshaw, commemorating the “Civil War Affair at Minter’s Ranch”. They have asked for support from the Civil War community.
Acting upon the information, Mrs. Schwartz made the motion to have the SDCWRT send a check for $600.00 to the Civil War Preservation Trust, with the directive that $300.00 go to preservation efforts at The Wilderness, and $300.00 go to Fort Gaines. In addition, the SDCWRT will give $300.00 for the erecting of a State Historical Marker at Lake Henshaw. The motion was passed unanimously.
Later in the evening, Mr. Dave Tooley gave a presentation on bookbinding and preservation. He has many years’ experience in bookbinding and preservation. He began with a brief history of how the book and later printing came to be. The book was invented in the western world in the Roman Empire when it was discovered that codices—the bound book as we know it today—was far easier for recording large works than scrolls which could stretch for hundreds of yards. During this time, most books were made of parchment, a stretched animal skin that is limed but not tanned; or vellum, a more refined and expensive stretched animal skin.
Moveable type was invented in the West by Johannes Gutenberg in middle of the fifteenth century. Moveable type was an advancement over hand writing for it was possible to cast individual letters in metal and then arrange them in a tray to make a page and multiple copies far more easily. It was possible to make anything with moveable type as the letters could be arranged for one page and then rearranged for another, and another. This process had been invented in China during the Ch’ing-li period (1041-1048).
Hardbound books are printed on large sheets of paper on which a number of pages in the book are printed on the same sheet. These large sheets are then folded to make a section of a book which is called a signature and may consist of 4, 8, 16, 32, or more pages of the book. A book which consists of 320 pages, for example, may consist of 10 signatures of 32 pages each. The pages in a signature are then sewn together and the other edges cut. The signatures are then placed together in order, and then cords are placed across their backs and then the signatures and cords are sewn together to make the book and the edges are evened out. It may be noticed in old books that there are a number of straps across the spine. These straps are the cords. The backs of the books are rounded to make opening easier. Finally a piece of cloth, such as muslin, is cemented over the back of the book covering the cords. Some modern books are not sewn, but glued together like a writing pad. Original hide glue will dry out, crack thus causing the book to fall apart over time. Additionally, this hide glue is silverfish food.
With the pages in the book together, it is necessary to make the cover. Folded sheets of paper—the endpapers—are added to forward and end of the book. Endpapers may be marbleized paper which is produced by floating the paper over water filled with dyes. The endpapers are then glued to the cover boards. The spine is best attached to the ends of the cover boards and not the back of the book itself, because when the book is opened, the spine will not move with the pages and this will assist in the longevity of the spine. When the spine is glued to the back of the book, it will move when the book is opened and an old spine will crack and disintegrate when the book is opened. It is best in old books of this design to open the books as narrowly and as little as possible.
With the cover and spine completed, it is necessary to cover the book in leather or similar material. There is almost no limit to the materials that can be used to cover a book. High-quality books use leather and similar animal materials while lesser-quality and high-use books may use a cloth cover. There are several hybrids with cloth and other material as well as leather scraps cemented together. With the book covered in leather, or other material, the title and other information is pressed in the book with gold leaf. Cheaper books may use brass, etc. The title may also be placed on a separate piece of leather and then cemented to the book. With the title completed and impressed upon the book, the book is complete.
Mr. Tooley also spoke of the various materials used in the bookmaking process. For cement, Mr. Tooley uses a modern compound that is designed to last for centuries. He does not use the more original hide glue for it draws insects and other creatures which likely contributed to the book’s poor condition in the first place.
The paper in the book changed after the advent of moveable type. Paper made of animal skins were of high-quality, but impractical for mass production and were relegated to high-quality books. Beginning in the seventeenth century, rags were soaked until they became soft and then pressed together to make paper. Rag paper is of good quality and many still retain their original color. In the Industrial Revolution, more books were required and printers turned to wood-based paper. This mid-nineteenth century to early twentieth century paper is of notoriously poor quality, because when it was produced, the makers used acid and did not thoroughly wash the paper allowing the acid to disintegrate the pages over time. Many books made in the nineteenth century have suffered such a fate and their pages are very brittle today. Modern paper is a mixture of wood and rags and is treated with chemicals which should not cause their degradation.
The boards used in the cover of a book may be of any material, such as wood and card paper, but most older books are made of a mixture of straw, wood scraps, etc. cemented together. Many other aspects of the books were made from animal products.
With the advent of half-tone printing—using various concentrations of dots to show shading instead of continual shading—photographs could be placed in books as separate plates. In some old books, it may be noted that there is a piece of tissue paper in front of the plates. This is done to prevent the very strong inks used in the production of plates from bleeding through to the other pages.
As for the preservation of books, Mr. Tooley said that the worst enemy of a book is moisture. Also, gravity is not kind to books when they are on shelves and he advises that large “coffee table” size books be laid flat, not stood as usual. When books are made and when Mr. Tooley preserves them, a large press is used when cementing the various parts together. Mr. Tooley also showed several examples of books which he had restored, or was in the process of restoring, to illustrate the process of bookbinding. Some books which are not restored to preserve originality are placed in specially made boxes. It was later revealed that the oldest book Mr. Tooley has restored was from the year 1510 and two of the examples present at the meeting were from the mid-eighteenth century. There were, of course, several examples relating to the Civil War. Such a presentation was essential to anyone who is interested in collecting books from the time of the Civil War and no one is more qualified than Mr. Tooley to present on antiquarian books.
The author would like to extend his gratitude to Mr. Tooley for his invaluable assistance in the compilation of the article.
Coming Attractions: SDCWRT 2010
Feb. 17- Dr. Joe Wagner “Civil War Medicine”
Mar. 17- Phil Binks “Civil War Firearms”
Apr. 21- Gean Armistead “Charles Stewart: First Admiral & Forgotten Hero”
May.- Mike Schooling TBA
Jun.-TBA
Jul.-TBA
Aug.-TBA
Sep.16-Social
Oct. 21-TBA