Beta-radiography and watermarks

Karen Potje <kpotje [at] cca__qc__ca> writes

>At the Canadian Centre for Architecture we are considering replacing
>an old beta plate in order to document watermarks. ...
>Before we buy a new beta plate we would
>like to know if there are any new, effective and *affordable* means
>of documenting large numbers of watermarks.

Last year my colleague Dave Calladine had reasonable success
documenting watermarks in-situ in books using a light-sheet and the
Polaroid high-contrast instant slide film. After a bit of
trial-and-error, the high contrast had the effect of isolating the
watermark from the manuscript.

(I have spent a lot of time trying Dylux but with very poor results,
and I have never met anyone who had any success.)

Mark Clarke
+44 171 277 1633

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 9:66
                  Distributed: Monday, March 25, 1996
                        Message Id: cdl-9-66-004
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