Bibliotheca Tinctoria: Annotated Catalog of the Sidney M. Edelstein Collection in the History of Bleaching, Dyeing, Finishing and Spot Removing by Moshe Ron

Abstract

TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 181 Bibliotheca Tinctoria: Annotated Catalog of the Sidney M. Edelstein Collec­ tion in the History ofBleaching, Dyeing, Finishing and Spot Removing. By Moshe Ron. Jerusalem: Jewish National and University Library, 1991. Pp. 507; illustrations, bibliography, indexes. $110.00. Members of SHOT who know Sidney M. Edelstein and his impor­ tant collection of books on the history of dyeing, bleaching, finishing, and spot removing have no doubt been looking forward to the publication of this annotated bibliography. Bibliophiles and scholars unfamiliar with the collection or unable to travel to the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem where it is housed will find this volume a worthy introduction to the 1,220 works in one of the world’s richest collections, in number and breadth, of rare Western European and American books and documents on these “wet processes” of textiles. Many of the works are first or early editions of volumes published as early as 1528, volumes that are both rare and significant milestones in the history of textiles and of chemistry. These are supplemented by general histories and modern translations that provide an overview of those wet processes and their practice in periods preceding the 16th century. The collection also contains a scattering of books on subjects such as dye plants, textile production, textile and wallpaper printing, inks, housepaints, porcelain painting, varnishes, and color theory. Early books of secrets and of household hints, with dye recipes among their miscellaneous contents, are also included. A rough survey of the bibliography entries’ dates and places of origin reveals that about 3 percent of the works date from the 16th century, 6 percent are from the 17th, and 29 percent originated in the 18th century. The greatest number of entries, appropriately, date from the 19th century, when the dye industry experienced a revolu­ tionary transformation from natural to coal-tar-derivative dyestuffs. Literature documenting both aspects of the changeover constitutes about 40 percent of the entries. Twentieth-century publications are 21 percent of the collection. Books from France, Germany, England, Italy, and the United States predominate, in that order, over 83 percent of the total. Most of the remaining 17 percent are divided among twelve other European countries, with a scattering originating elsewhere, in such diverse places as Argentina, Mexico, India, Israel, and Australia. Background information about the collection is furnished by three brief introductory sections. In his foreword, Edelstein reveals how he started the still-growing library in 1943 as an outgrowth of his collection of books and manuscripts on early chemistry and alchemy. A preface by Melvin Kranzberg, who encouraged Edelstein to de­ velop the collection, supplies biographical details about Edelstein’s work as a chemist, scientist, and successful industrialist, and his 182 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE collecting activities, as well as a brief overview of the collection’s contents. Moshe Ron’s introduction outlines the format and describes the bibliography and indexes. Entries, arranged alphabetically by author, are divided into three categories: books, documents, and periodicals. The 1,132 book en­ tries cover single volumes and multivolume sets, as well as offprints of research papers, lectures, and printed state documents. The 71 documents are mainly manuscript items but also include printed broadsides, advertisements, and other business-related material. The periodicals are miscellaneous runs in English, French, and German; the earliest is a single 1767 volume of a Viennese publication entitled Mielzliche Nachrichten. The longest runs are ofAnnales de Chimie, whose 360 volumes span the years 1789-1903, and the English Journal ofthe Society ofDyers and Colourists, 1884—1983; the latter is the most recent periodical. Approximately fifty black-and-white illustrations appear mainly as dividers between the alphabetical entries and between the sections on books, documents, and periodicals. Most are title pages of works in the collection, whose captions give the author and serial number of the source. Almost all the alphabetical dividers have one illustration whose author’s initial “announces” the initial letters of the entries that follow. Each entry was assigned a serial number; this simplifies crossreferencing and saves time when looking up works in the indexes. Each includes standard library information about illustrations, page numbering, and the presence of samples, along...