Obadiah Oldbuck, Mr. Vieux-Bois and the First Comic Book

Hello! From Baker Berry Library this is Ryland Ianelli, the newest staff member down here in Preservation Services. I am, first and foremost, a cartoonist, and I received my MFA at the Center for Cartoon Studies in 2010. While I spend about half of my time in Preservation, the other half is spent in Digital Production, and working here these past few months I’ve found that the convergence of these units gives me a unique perspective, especially when my personal passion of cartooning is added into the mix.

When many consider the phrase "comic book collection", images of long cardboard boxes, Mylar sleeves and perhaps a dank parents’ basement come to mind; a far cry from the gorgeous, well-lit and spacious Rauner Library. Yet here Dartmouth holds some of the earliest examples of the comic medium, a crucial part of the DNA of both the American and European comic traditions.

The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck, aka, La Historie de Monsieur Vieux-Bois

First and foremost in the collection is "The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck" by Genevan artist Rodolphe Töpffer. It was written under the title "Historie de Monsieur Vieux-Bois" in 1827, and went through several iterations before arriving stateside over a decade later. Töpffer grew up in a highly artistic and academic environment; his father, Adam-Wolfgang Töpffer, was a well-known painter and early practitioner of the art of caricature, and young Rodolphe studied art in Paris before being appointed Professor of Literature at the University of Geneva in 1832.

Page from the 1827 manuscript

In 1837 Rodolphe began drawing a printable version of Vieux-Bois by the process of autography, a form of lithography. In addition to changing much of the story, Töpffer extended the page width and used only a single tier of panels. He coined the term la littérature en estampes (literature in prints) to describe it, though the term was eventually dropped in favor of bandes dessinées (designed strips, or commonly, comic strips). Töpffer implicitly understood that he needed a new vocabulary, both literal and visual, to adequately describe his goals.

Page from Töpffer's 1839 edition

The books themselves were distributed by Töpffer personally among a network of bookshops across Europe. The differences between this edition of Vieux-Bois and its later versions are certainly fascinating, but the similarities tell us more. The pacing, storytelling, humor and whimsically exaggerated character design were the essential framework of Töpffer's project and its later iterations.

Cover image from Töpffer's 1839 edition

These iterations are where the subject becomes a bit tricky: after the tiny initial print run ended, bootlegged copies began appearing in Paris bookshops. And, keeping in mind that Xerox technology was still to be developed, this meant the bootleg copies were completely redrawn versions, copied from the originals by a different artist and sold without Töpffer's knowledge.

The first French bootlegged copy came out in early 1838, and later that year Töpffer himself redrew the book, selling it in direct competition with his own bootleg. There was not much of a contest between the two; the bootleg was far more crudely drawn, and omitted many of Töpffer's details, while Töpffer's newer version refined the storytelling and added details. However, when an English publisher decided to make his own version it was the French bootleg that was used as a basis instead of the original.

Cover image from French bootleg edition

As it turned out the English copy-of-a-copy was a good sight better than its source material. This was the version that was eventually brought to America by Wilson and Company Publishing, with the name changed to "The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck." The unknown English artist added far more atmospheric flourishes than the French version, while the overall layout and pacing of Töpffer’s originals carried through both versions. "Obadiah Oldbuck" also has the impressive distinction of being the first comic book available in America.

Page from Obadiah Oldbuck

These complications arising from multiple authors and print runs are a common thread throughout the history of comics scholarship, highlighting the importance of preservation. Such disposable pamphlets are notoriously ill-cared for, and a multiplicity of versions means one edition of the same comic could be considered disposable while another essential. Entire comics histories have been lost due to lack of perceived value. Rauner and Preservation Services have done a truly exceptional job in restoring and making this fascinating piece available.

"Go, little book, and choose your world, for at crazy things, those who do not laugh, yawn; those who do not yield, resist; those who reason, are mistaken, and those who keep a straight face, can please themselves."
-Rodolphe Töpffer, 1839

If you're interested in reading more about Rodolphe Töpffer, here is an excellent article on him by Patricia Mainardi: http://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/index.php/spring07/145-the-invention-of-comics. Also, scholar David Kunzle's books on Töpffer are indispensable.

Written by Ryland Ianelli.

Guest Post: A Final Internship Experiment

This is the final guest post from our intern and North Bennet Street School graduate, Arini Esarey. Her last project in Preservation Services was an experiment with a new technique for creating a conservation-friendly leather substitute to be used in bookbinding and repair. Our thanks to Arini for her excellent work and positive energy in the lab over the last few months, and best wishes to her as she leaves us for new adventures in the book arts. To contact Arini or learn more about her work, please visit her website.

The following experiment is based on the technique described by Grace Owen and Sarah Reidell in their presentation at the 2010 American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works Annual Meeting in Milwaukee, Synthetic Leather for Book Repair: Experimenting with Cast Composites. In this activity I am not attempting to match existing leather for a specific book repair, but am merely curious to see how the technique works.

Materials

• Japanese tissue (Hiromi Paper; HP-10B Kaji Natural, 24.5 x 39 inches, 26 g/m2, kozo fibers)
• Acrylic Paint (Golden Fluid Acrylics in Burnt Sienna)
• Silicone mold made from an existing piece of leather or cloth. (The one I used was already made by others in the lab. Owen and Reidell suggest a Room Temperature Vulcanizing (RTV) silicone mold kit available at art stores.)

Round 1
Undiluted acrylic paint was brushed lightly onto the silicone mold. Care was taken to apply as light a coat as possible while still achieving an even, opaque coat. Even so, not all brush strokes were eliminated, as you can see in the samples. Then Japanese tissue was laid over the mold and tamped down with a stiff brush. The tissue was left on until dry and then peeled away.

Sample 1: dry tissue
Sample 2: tissue dampened with water before application to mold
Sample 3: tissue dampened with Methyl Cellulose before application to mold

Round 2
In this trial, the acrylic paint was mixed with Methyl Cellulose before application (in a roughly 60/40 water to MC ratio).

Sample 4: dry tissue
Sample 5: dampened with water before application to mold
Sample 6: dampened with Methyl Cellulose before application to mold

Of the six samples, numbers two and three show the most promise for use in leather or cloth repair. Sample two has the most even application of color and texture with no signs of brush strokes. Sample three could be useful if the tissue is toned beforehand with a wash of light acrylic paint to add depth and richness of color to the final result.

Round 3
In this round, undiluted acrylic paint was dabbed onto the silicone mold using a piece of cheesecloth. The tissue was left to dry, then given a layer of Methyl Cellulose before putting the tissue onto the mold. After removing the tissue from the mold, half of the surface was given a bit of SC6000 and Klucel-g to mimic the treatment one might give in a repair treatment. Then, on the lower portion of the sample I under-painted a layer of black and burnt sienna to see how that would alter the appearance of the tissue.

Sample 7: tissue brushed with thin wash of burnt sienna, raw sienna, and water

Detail view of the sample with toned tissue, under-painting, and SC-6000/Klucel-G mix

Round 4
This time, I combined the elements I liked best to use for covering a scrap piece of board.

1. Toned tissue with thin wash of burnt and raw sienna, let dry
2. Dampened with methyl cellulose
3. Applied undiluted acrylic paint into silicone mold using cheesecloth
4. Under-painted the tissue with black and burnt sienna
5. When dried, applied to piece of board with PVA
6. Then, SC-6000 and Klucel-G applied to tissue

In the end, I’m pleased with the results of Round 4.

When attempting to match tissue to an existing piece of leather or cloth, the under-painting step may not be necessary, depending on what colors you use for the color wash and mold. In this demo, I liked the richness that layer of paint gave, even if it did add an extra step to the process.

This cast composite technique was introduced to me by Helen Bailey at the Dartmouth conservation lab in Preservation Services and Henry Hebert, currently a second year student at North Bennet Street School. Thanks to Stephanie Wolff for her guidance and support in the lab while working with this technique.

Thanks, Dartmouth Preservation Services for the chance to learn, experiment, and participate in the book conservation field. The internship was wonderful!

Written by Arini Esarey

A Look Inside: The Early Medical Thesis Disbound

This past fall we were asked to disbind a set of Dartmouth Medical School theses from their heavy half-leather bindings and return them to their original form as separate items, whether a stack of single sheets or a folded pamphlet. The disbinding of these volumes will allow for increased accessibility to the material due to their new storage arrangement and cataloging enhancements.

The medical school at Dartmouth was founded in 1797, and until the fall of 1882 required a thesis of its students for graduation. For those interested, there is a short history of the medical school, as well as a more detailed history of the first one hundred years in the Historical Address by Phineas S. Conner, M.D., LL.D. published in the volume Centennial Exercises, Tuesday, June 29, 1897. Conner discusses the medical volumes that might have been part of the original donation founder Nathan Smith made to the library. His list includes a number of volumes that Dartmouth’s Rauner Library holds, such as:

• Lectures on the materia medica, as delivered by William Cullen, M. D., professor of medicine in the University of Edinburgh
• W. Cheselden’s The anatomy of the human body
• Samuel Sharpe’s A treatise on the operations of surgery, with a description and representation of the instruments used in performing them: to which is prefixed an introduction on the nature and treatment of wounds, abscesses, and ulcers
• W. Smellie’s A treatise on the theory and practice of midwifery
• Alexander Hamilton’s Outlines of the theory and practice of midwifery
• The Edinburgh new dispensatory

To disbind the thesis volumes, we cut away the cover and released the textblock from the boards. Then we wet-cleaned the spines with wheat starch paste. Once the spine was clean, the sewing was cut to separate the signature or individual thesis’ gathering of pages.

As we worked on this project, cleaning spines and snipping threads to release the sewing, we noticed titles and topics, language and names, penmanship and design. Over the span of the project as we pulled these pages and text caught our eyes, we would read out interesting turns of phrase or title, and occasionally stop to take a photograph of an outstanding title page, diagram or illustration. In an age where the mark of the hand is not always present in our forms of communication, it is a pleasure to see the variety of penmanship between doctor-scholars in a given year, as well as between years. It appeared to us that some title pages may have been prepared by someone other than the particular student. In a given year several title pages looked nearly identical to one another with only the titles and authors varying between them. We include here some photographs from the pages of these volumes. Aside from one or two penmanship examples of texts, along with a variety of title pages, we include an image from the only thesis we found with photographs.

We are not the only admirers of these pages. In the winter of 2008, Dartmouth Medicine published a story about undergraduate research in these theses, and they too noticed the wonderful handwork in the pages of these manuscripts as well as in the student notebooks of the period.

We will leave the conclusions to others regarding what these theses have to tell us about medicine, medical education, and penmanship. Instead, we will show you a small peek inside - to whet an appetite for delving into them further or merely to enjoy as a visual curiosity.

Written by Stephanie Wolff and Arini Esarey.

Papyrus: A Delicate Issue

One well-loved item in our Special Collections is a set of five papyrus fragments. Papyrus is a key material used to illustrate the unique beginnings of a writing substrate similar to that of paper. These fragments are often used in classes held in Special Collections, and therefore receive heavy use. One of the fragments was sandwiched between old acidic cardboard and glass, the others in Mylar sleeves. The curator requested something a bit more substantial and presentable for housing.

Knowing that my colleague, Leyla Lamb at the University of Michigan, is one of the foremost experts on the repair and housing of papyrus, I contacted her and inquired what my approach should be since I had not dealt with papyrus previously. With enthusiasm and willingness she provided me with guidelines and directed me to her web site that outlines in simple clarity the care and repair of papyrus.

One of the papyrus samples on acidic board with glass.

Fragment housed in Mylar.

Our fragments were clean and free of mud and dirt, however they had been poorly stored and had become folded and compressed. One of the first things I did was to humidify and relax the fibers of each piece using a mist bottle. With careful manipulation I was able to realign the fibers and set the fragment to its natural size.

Fragment after being relaxed.

Japanese paper tabs used to reconnect a broken section.

To adequately protect the papyrus, archival glazing is used and sealed around the edges with Filmoplast SH.

After sealing I put each sample in a simple labeled folder to help with handling.

The five samples were placed in a double-walled clamshell box along with two sets of glazing for possible future acquisition of new papyri.

This was a great project with a very satisfactory learning curve. My thanks goes out to Leyla for her encouragement and help.

Written by Deborah Howe

The Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center

Welcome back everyone. We in Preservation Services hope you all had very happy holidays! It's a new year (happy 2012!) and here at Dartmouth we're fortunate to have a brand new facility on campus. The new Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center is AWESOME!

I was able to tour the facility with some of my colleagues and was blown away; it is magnificent in every way. The building is energy efficient, has beautiful public spaces, fabulous lab space, and state of the art classrooms that maximize interaction.

Much has been written about the energy efficient building, the flexible and innovative classroom design. Here are a few photos help tell the story:

The research labs.

Public space.

Window view.

Smart displays guide visitors through the building.

There is a greenhouse on the top floor.

This classroom is ringed with white boards and large monitors so that students can gather around the monitor, attach a laptop, and collaborate on a project.

The tour got me thinking back to when Preservation Services and other collection services departments moved in 2000 from Baker Library to the current location in Berry Library and what a tremendous difference it made on our day to day work. Our new home in Berry Library was purposely designed to link Acquisitions and Cataloging so that our staff could easily and effortlessly consult one another. When we were in Baker Library a simple question could involve traveling upstairs, through study stacks, or other connecting routes. From the first day that we moved into Berry and our department spaces were connected, the work dynamic changed. We found that by being physically closer, collaboration and communication effortlessly increased.

A well-designed building can enhance the work-life of its inhabitants. Walking through the Life Sciences Center got me thinking again about space dynamics and the differences they can make if thoughtfully planned.

Now, how to get a greenhouse on the top floor of Berry Library...

Written by Barb Sagraves. Photos provided by David Seaman and his iPad.