Bryant's+Damage

Quick Facts on Damage

 * Foxing marks
 * Tide lines
 * Dormant mold
 * Trimming

Straw and I looked over Bryant’s Progressive Lessons in Landscape to assess the years of damage. She noted that the black text box is characteristic of its upbringing in London. During the 1800s, when the book was printed, London was heated by coal (Straw 2012). The coal heat created the London Fog dressing the cityscape in soot. The dry coal dust wraps around the original text block of Bryant’s Progressive Lessons in Landscape making it look dirty. The 19th century meteorologist Hon. R. Russell discussed the fog in his book, London Fogs. He wrote:

//A London fog is brown, reddish-yellow, or greenish, darkens more than a white fog, has a smoky, or sumptuous smell, is often somewhat dryer than a country fog, and produces, when thick, a choking sensation. Instead of diminishing while the sun rises higher, it often increases in density, and some of the most lowering London fogs occur about midday or late in the afternoon. Sometimes the brown masses rise and interpose a thick curtain at a considerable elevation between earth and sky. A white cloth spread out on the ground rapidly turns dirty, and particles of soot attach themselves to every exposed object (Russell 6). //

According to writer David Urbinato’s article London's Historic 'Pea-Soupers', the London Fogs had been around for centuries and were so thick that they impeded the city and the homes of people living in the area. People were forced to wear scarves over their faces when the smog was particularly bad. The debris in the air was inescapable and dirtied everything in London (Urbinato 1994). The stained black fore edges on Bryant’s Progressive Lessons in Landscapemarks it as having lived in a certain place, much like how one might have hint of an accent or use colloquial terms if they lived in a different location.

The book also has injury and aging marks. Tide lines on the cotton blend pages suggest that Bryant’s Progressive Lessons in Landscape got wet at some point. The pages are warped from the water damage and Straw had to remove some dormant mold that started growing as a result. There are also foxing marks. As the paper ages, the acids within the materials cause it to have brown discoloration marks. Foxing damage is homologous to the age spot. Throughout the years, Bryant’s Progressive Lessons in Landscape has changed and possibly grown (with the additional prints from different artists) and has been affected by the hands that it fell into.  Introduction