As I posted in another thread, I recently purchased a print that was made by the American Bank Note Company. It came today in the mail. On Sunday I realized that the print was cut from a copy of "The Story of the American Bank Note Company" (print after page 27). I figured it out by opening my copy of the book which I had just received a couple weeks ago and had not had the chance to go through. I confirmed it today when it showed up and I examined it. It is really okay because I like the print and look forward to having it framed and hung on my office wall. Now to the Minor Mystery. While examining the cut page I noticed that the back of the print had what looked liked faint red ink. It was hard to tell what it was from and showed up better as I changed the light slightly. So I looked at the same page still in my book and the ink was there as well.?. I flipped the page and on page 31 there is a graph of the evolution of the ABNC. It is the same image that shows up in reverse on the back of the print. So what is the mystery you ask? The chart has two printed pages between it and the back of the print. Only the graph shows up and nowhere else in the book does this occur. There are other pages where you would think it would happen again, but does not. I would bet that all other copies of this book have the same odd issue. Any thoughts??? Here are some BIG images to show what I am looking at. I hope it shows up on the screen as well as it does in real life.
Glad to see you got the book Darryl...the embossing of the vignettes displayed is simply fantastic! RickieB
I do not (yet) have this book but I suspect from your photos that each illustration in this book is its own 'plate' without any printing/text on the back side. I'm want to say that the 'ghosting' of the graph on the back of the previous illustration may have occurred prior to binding and prior to the ink fully drying, yet having spent enough time in contact (perhaps stacked together in the order the illustrations were inserted into the signatures) to have transferred acidic agents from the ink used to print the chart to the back of the earlier illustration. This may have been something unnoticed over the years but which very slowly appeared. The color may appear reddish due to the properties of the black used to print the chart, the reaction between the ink/paper, or just the paper itself if acidic. Again, I don't have this book to inspect and touch the pages to tell, but the paper of the plates may be one stock (of a better quality for taking the illustration) while the text pages may have been a 'cheaper' grade paper (better for printing type) yet containing acids from the paper pulp. An acidic paper can leach out to other 'better' papers and react differently around the illustration(s), 'outlining' an offset or mirror ghost-image of that design. Those are my immediate thoughts based on seeing such things in other antique books and also not holding this book to inspect it for such effects of conditional aging. When I break down and buy a copy I will check it out for the same thing. Let me know what you think of the ideas I expressed, yea/nay?
Owning this book as well, you just may have a point. There are a few different paper types inserted into this book. I must say that my copy does not exhibit this report from Darryls book. It is a super nice book with incredibile vignettes! RickieB
Hi Krispy, I know that there are two different types of paper and at least two different types of ink with multiple colors for the intaglio prints. The chart is on a heavy glossy paper while the print in question is on a high quality linen tpye paper. I will have to go back and check but the chart may be the only full page graphic on the normal paper that would have come just before or just after one of the special pages. There other graphics that are just before or after are combined with text I believe. I will inspect the ink thickness under magnification tonight to see if the different graphics on the standard paper seem to be consistant. I suspect you are correct but there are a couple things that still make me wonder. The special pages were probably printed seperatly than the standard pages even if graphics were seperate from text. If this is true the the different types of graphics would have had to be sorted together then sorted again to include the text prior to binding. If all of the graphics on the standard pages were printed using special ink then why didn't more images transfer during the sorting phases? I still suspect that you are correct and that storage probably has a lot to do with the ink appearing. Because this cut page is no longer in the book it is exposed to light and more affected by changes in temp and humidity. The copy in my book is not as pronounced but you can tell the book has not had a perfect life and has signs of ware that would be typical for a book such as this. I suspect that over time the image will appear in RickieB's book and it will become more pronounced in mine. The question is how much damage can this ink do over a long period of time. Could it bleed through to the front? Could it cause the paper to break down? Considering the pages are 50 years old the prints are probably fine for my lifetime. Thanks for your thoughts! The images really are something to see in person! This is one of those books that is well worth the cost if you collect paper money!
Darryl, one question, is my Frogs vignette listed in your book? If it is, I am saddened that it was cut from such a beautiful book, it came from the same seller.
Ultimately, if acidic paper pulp is present and no attempts are made at conservation to store the book in an archival (pH neutral) carton and wrapping and to remove as best as possible the acid from the pages via deacidification (or by a rare/antique books Conservators assistance), the paper will continue to deteriorate at variable rates give atmospheric and even insect conditions. Stablize the conditions that your book is in and you will prolong its life. Keep it out of direct sunlight and in a dry place where the humidity of the room doesn't shift too dramatically and you will do it a world of good. It sounds like you are already doing this, so that's a great start. You may have come across old books with translucent sheets over the image plates or seen works of art stored in acid free mats with glassine paper (archival tissue) over the surface of the image. This both protects the image from indirect scuffs and dirt as well as preventing the image from offsetting to the back of the previous page. You could insert interleaving paper (basically a coarse-type buffered w/ calcium carbonate or a smooth-type/unbuffered storage papers used depending upon the type of image/art it will be in contact with) or interleaving glassine sheets (which also breaks down and occasionally needs to be changed if used for long term storage) which can help prevent further leaching/offsetting of one page to the back of another. With acidic pulp present in the pages, there is little to be done to prevent the book from eating itself away over time unless some measures are taken. Those above may help some, but for some people this may be too much work to enjoy the book or piece of art, treating it like a museum piece in storage. Books stored on unsealed wooden book shelves also run the risk of absorbing the acids out of wood itself. The following are some sources for archival materials used in conservation which you might be interested in reading about or acquiring for storing your book and prints: Talas, Archival Products and University Products. Also, (if you are really into this stuff) the Book Arts Web is a great resource that provides a forum of discussion on traditional hand bound book arts, editioned artists books, bookmaking/binding, art on paper and conservation topics. While these topics may seem obtuse at the moment, I think given the context of paper money as art or prints on paper you may find some information useful if applied/considered for your items.
It's funny that you ask. No it is not from this book. The reason it is funny is because after you said you were hoping to find the engraver for the frogs I went through this book for the 1st time to try to find the answer. That is when I realized the print I just bought was from this book. I was disappointed the seller (who I am sure knew) did not disclose that in the auction. I was really hoping to find the frogs in Hesslers book but no luck there either. Sorry - I tried with what I have. I clearly need more reference books for this type of research! Good Luck ~ Darryl
Quite unfortunate if so, but not at all uncommon that book dealers and even some print dealers who specialize in selling reproduction prints of engravings taken from previously bound books would do this. Some dealers cut prints from books to sell separately but may still sell the books if not in bad shape. Others get the books with broken boards (covers) and cracked/missing spines, broken binding threads and just remove the plates for individual sale due to these other damages found throughout the book (often it's even insect damage or brittle, yellowed pages) making the whole book unsaleable. It's sort of like selling a car for its parts to make more money and scraping the old rusted chassis that can't be saved. Unfortunate indeed! But a lot of books fall apart or go beyond a lifetime with no attention to conservation and end up this way. As well, some buyers will not look in an old book to search for images and buy the entire tome to appreciate one image, instead are interested in sifting through a box of matted prints taken from books and buy them for decorative purposes. You see this often in rare/old/used book shops.
Thanks again Krispy. Looks like I have some research ahead of me. I will have to get some glassing paper for this book and a couple others I have. This book really is a piece of art and I would like to do what I can to preserve it.
Darryl,i just got the book out and have the same mystery faint red transfer ghost image on my book,perhaps before the image pages were inserted these 2 pages sat back to back transfering the image before completely drying. Anyway you have a beautiful book to add to your collecting. I just flipped through it again and love the vignettes ,I shot a few close ups. Daryl .I just realized that some of vignettes were from ABNco SO cards.so don't think your book is missing vignetes.
Darryl, Today I received my copy of The Story of the American Bank Note Company by William H. Griffiths that I bought as a Christmas gift to myself. I had been looking for a copy and finally took advantage of a nice copy with free shipping offered through a seller I found on abebooks.com. For anyone considering this book it is an absolute must have, especially for currency collectors! It is wonderfully chocked full of sample engraved vignettes from actual plates. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I also have the same offset ghosting effect from the chart of page 31 that appears on the reverse side of the plate that lays over page 29. Below are some photos I made from my book. The light here today is cold gray and overcast. I did minimally adjust the levels to show this ghosting effect, which is quite subtle and hard to photograph without blowing out the details under the light source.
Congrats on getting it! I agree, for a paper money collector this is a must! Very interesting, must have been a result of prebinding sorting and transfer. I love the book and still haven't had the chance to really go though it in depth. The vignettes really are amazing! Thanks for looking at yours, hope you enjoy! BR ~ Darryl
