DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.73058#0117
Print Restoring.
CHAPTER XXII
Print Restoring, Inlaying, Splitting, and
Cleaning.
(p ^f^- <RgS ^0^©^.-^^^
A being so easily injured, it becomes a source of wonder how the countless
examples of the old masters—a large proportion almost as fresh as they were the day
they were printed—have continued in existence. Millions must have perished through
the action of fire and water, mildew and rot, and the numerous accidents to which,
from their fragile nature, they are peculiarly liable. A badly stained, torn, or defaced
print is usually considered spoilt; but if it be a valuable one the advice of an expert
is sought, sometimes with astonishing results. There are men who have a reputation as
print restorers ; and, provided they are sufficiently well paid for their time, nothing seems
beyond their powers. A torn print they make nothing of; the edges are brought together
and joined so skilfully that the tear cannot be detected, and practically ceases to exist.
The passage of the point of a walking-stick through a print, a piece the size of a shilling
being carried away, and not to be found when wanted, might be considered a totally
hopeless kind of accident; but the print can be repaired in two ways. Say it is a valuable
proof; a print of the same subject of inferior value is procured, the corresponding piece
cut out, the edges of both pared down, and the piece accurately fitted in from behind.
The print is then subjected to considerable pressure, and when dry the join cannot be
detected. If an inferior impression of the injured print is not obtainable for the purpose,
the operation becomes more delicate and artistic. A piece of plain paper, to exactly match
in tint, is let into the wound from the back, the print, when dry, being subjected to
pressure as before. The blank place is then laboriously filled in, line for line and stroke
for stroke, with a very fine steel pen. The writer has in his possession some prints re-
paired in this manner, over which it is evident that weeks of the closest labour must
have been spent.
Some of the print restorers, so it is whispered, have ugly deeds to answer for; deeds
91
made
CHAPTER XXII
Print Restoring, Inlaying, Splitting, and
Cleaning.
(p ^f^- <RgS ^0^©^.-^^^
A being so easily injured, it becomes a source of wonder how the countless
examples of the old masters—a large proportion almost as fresh as they were the day
they were printed—have continued in existence. Millions must have perished through
the action of fire and water, mildew and rot, and the numerous accidents to which,
from their fragile nature, they are peculiarly liable. A badly stained, torn, or defaced
print is usually considered spoilt; but if it be a valuable one the advice of an expert
is sought, sometimes with astonishing results. There are men who have a reputation as
print restorers ; and, provided they are sufficiently well paid for their time, nothing seems
beyond their powers. A torn print they make nothing of; the edges are brought together
and joined so skilfully that the tear cannot be detected, and practically ceases to exist.
The passage of the point of a walking-stick through a print, a piece the size of a shilling
being carried away, and not to be found when wanted, might be considered a totally
hopeless kind of accident; but the print can be repaired in two ways. Say it is a valuable
proof; a print of the same subject of inferior value is procured, the corresponding piece
cut out, the edges of both pared down, and the piece accurately fitted in from behind.
The print is then subjected to considerable pressure, and when dry the join cannot be
detected. If an inferior impression of the injured print is not obtainable for the purpose,
the operation becomes more delicate and artistic. A piece of plain paper, to exactly match
in tint, is let into the wound from the back, the print, when dry, being subjected to
pressure as before. The blank place is then laboriously filled in, line for line and stroke
for stroke, with a very fine steel pen. The writer has in his possession some prints re-
paired in this manner, over which it is evident that weeks of the closest labour must
have been spent.
Some of the print restorers, so it is whispered, have ugly deeds to answer for; deeds
91
made