Ohio History Journal

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Book Reviews

Book Reviews

 

 

 

 

 

 

Collection, Use, and Care of Historical Photographs. By Robert A. Weinstein

and Larry Booth. (Nashville: American Association for State and Local

History, 1977. xiv + 222p.; illustrations, appendices, bibliography, index.

$16.00.)

 

The authors of this work share a passionate interest in the preservation of

the photographic past. Their concerns are many, their experience is wide,

and their enthusiasm is contagious. For some time there has been a pressing

need for a concise introduction to the benefits and problems of photographic

collection and preservation. It is the intent of this volume to begin to meet

that need. In most important respects, the authors have admirably succeeded.

The problem with most of the previous literature in the area of historic

photography is that it usually deals with only one small aspect of the field.

The serious amateur collector, the administrator of the smaller historical

society, and the professional librarian should find this book most interesting

because it attempts to discuss briefly the entire range of concerns in the

discovery, arrangement, description, and preservation of historical photo-

graphs. There is really something here for everyone. The authors are anxious

to share their practical field experience as well as their theories of photo-

graphic curatorship. This is always most useful since the real world of collecting

and care is often affected more by chance, luck, and perseverance than would

seem to be implied in the simplicity of textbook illustration.

More to their credit, the authors in many cases have taken controversial

positions unhesitatingly. As they frankly point out, some experts will dis-

agree with their conclusions and proposals. But it is one of their hopes that

the present work will stimulate a debate and discussion which will lead to

constructive revision with the passage of time.

I do have some reservations about the book. The style is often uneven and

the authors do not at all times make it fully clear what alternative options

exist to the ideal methods they are recommending. In general, the use of

photographs in the work is judicious and pertinent. But while the additional

portfolios of nineteenth-century photographs which appear at various points in

the book are interesting, they are not directly related by the authors to the

totality of the book. Finally, in a book which stresses methods for the un-

initiated, it is surprising that little mention is made of the time and monetary

costs of the various techniques proposed.

Each reader of this book will come away with different impressions, but it is

to be hoped that a few salient points will be self-evident to all. This work

will help in acquainting all serious collectors with the explosive dangers of

nitrate-based film and the extraordinary fragility of many types of photography.

The point that the authors make concerning the inevitable deterioration and

loss of so much of our photographic legacy with every passing day is perhaps

one of the most important parts of the book.