The Essential Reference Library
Donald C. Williams
Over the past thirty years I have decided that for those of us involved in the restoration and preservation arts there are a number of "essential" references that help make us well-rounded decision makers and practitioners. Think of them as an operating system running continuously in the background, allowing our specific software ("skills" and "experience") to be applied with the greatest skill and precision. In this offering I am specifically NOT writing about restoration books, but rather sources that help us use those books and other information with greater wisdom. (I am reminded of the old GAF commercials; "We don't manufacture product XYZ, our products just make it better"). Common to all the things
listed below is that an old used version is virtually as good for us as a sparkling new one. I have had excellent luck searching at bibliofind.com, abebooks.com and powells.com.
The first pair of books will make you, quite literally, ask yourself, "How did I ever get along without them?" I have practically worn out my copies "The Artists Handbook of Materials and Techniques" (17 chapters, 761 pages) by Ralph Mayer and "Materials Handbook" (about 1100 pages depending on edition) by Brady, et al. Both are terrific encyclopedias about the materials and processes employed in virtually every aspect of the material world in an extremely "learner friendly" manner. They tell you what stuff is, cross referencing common names with technical and scientific descriptions. Hence, they are the cornerstone of understanding what artifacts are made of, and by extension, what we need to understand to restore and preserve them. If you don't believe me when I tell you how valuable they are, go to the local library, pull them off the shelf, and see how long it takes you to extricate yourself once you start browsing. My bet is if you have encountered neither before, you will look up to see that it is closing time before you are satiated. Mayer is about $30 new, and $10 -15 used. Brady is about $100 new, $10-20 used (gee, that's a tough choice).
Just about everything we do in artifact restoration relates to film-forming resins, whether as coatings, consolidants, or adhesives. Smilar to Charles Martens' "Technology of Paints, Lacquers, and Varnishes" some of you already know, is "Handbook of Adhesives" (56 chapters, 921 pages) by Irving Skeist. Like Martens, Skeist compiled and edited a fabulous survey of every adhesive you and I are likely to ever encounter. Individual experts wrote the various chapters, and for the most part they are exceedingly readable. While it is not an in-depth treatise, it is useful in a million different ways. It would be worth it just for the chapters on Animal Glues; Fish Glue; Casein; Starch-based Adhesives... Whoops, I'm reciting the entire Table of Contents. Unfortunately this book is now out of print, but it is available used for $25 - 50.
Anyone interested in color or appearance will find "Principles of Color Technology" (256 pages) by Fred Billmeyer and Max Saltzman, and "Measurement of Appearance" (17 chapters, 411 pages) by Richard Hunter and Richard Harold, useful beyond belief. If you've ever wondered why things look the way they do, why surfaces are shiny or flat, or what colorant or technique to use to achieve some particular appearance, or what lights you should use to do color matching, these are the ones for you. I almost need to get my Billmeyer and Saltzman re-bound. "Color Technology" is about $90 new, from $15-50 used; "Appearance" is $140 new and about $20-50 used. Hmmm, what to do, what to do. PS - if you ever get the chance, take a color course from Richard Harold (Richard Hunter is no longer alive). It will change forever the way you look at looking, and you get the book too. http://www.hunterlab.com/seminarinforequest.html
"The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Arts" (935 pages) by John Fleming and Hugh Honour is one of those happy accidental discoveries. When mine arrived I realized immediately 1) that it wasn't the book I thought I had ordered, and 2) that it WAY better than anything else of its kind I had ever seen. It is a remarkable romp through a millennium of decoration and artifacts with nearly 5,000 entries and 1,000 illustrations covering everything from designers to furniture to porcelain to textiles to silver to just about everything. It is a "desert island" type of reference that you will find yourself using every day. Unfortunately, like Skeist it is currently out of print. Even more unfortunately, there seems to be a wildly fluctuating market price for it, ranging from $35 -175. Go figure. A viable alternate acquisition would be the "Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts" (865 pages) by Harold Osborne. Not quite as good (but still pretty darned good), but not nearly so expensive.
For all around shop-type information, nothing holds a candle to "Marks' Mechanical Engineers' Handbook" or its counterpart, "Machinery Handbook" (each about 2000 - 2500 pages, depending on edition) . My "Marks'" is held together with duct tape. Enough said. "Marks'" is about $150 new and $15-25 used (man, this is getting tough!), and "Machinery Handbook" is about $80 new and $15-50 used (ditto).
Finally, a book so far afield you might not get the connection, but that's okay. "Knowledge and Decisions" by Thomas Sowell is perhaps the must profound secular book I have ever read. Putatively about political and economic decision-making (my true passion; in my next life I'm going to be an economist studying price theory), it explores the whole realm of how knowledge is created, transmitted, modified, and used by individuals and cultures. Anyone interested in critical thinking will be captivated. You will never think the same way about thinking if you can make it through. It's cheap, about $10 in paperback, but maybe the library has it. You may also try the watered down but equally powerful version, "Conflict of Visions."
There you go. With patience, a little luck, and judicious buying, you can get a reference collection for about $150 that will, quite simply, change the way you do things for the better.
Find, learn, and don't look back.