[Rockhounds] USGS Folios - and now maps

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

I volunteer at a regional museum as a research assistant in their archives.
Almost everything that comes into the collection spends a month, or more,
in a giant, deep cold, freezer that kills almost everything that might
degrade an artifact (or spread to affect other artifacts in the
collection). Deep cold is always preferred over chemicals for preservation,
but some times you have no other alternative. When preserving artifacts you
always want to do the least possible changes.

Kreigh

On Thu, Mar 5, 2020 at 10:31 PM J Bryan Kramer <codeburner at gmail.com> wrote:

> I believe major libraries, like a research university library have a way to
> treat old paper for that mold. I'm not sure but I think they gas them with
> ammonia.
>
> BK
>
> “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by
> one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”
> Edmund Burke
>
> J Bryan Krämer       North Florida, USA
> photos at: http://pbase.com/photoburner
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 5, 2020 at 10:07 PM Lanny <nwxtl at roadrunner.com> wrote:
>
> > Alan, if you are interested in selling the folios, contact Walt Lombardo
> > at Nevada Mineral and Book Co. Walt deals in the old geology, mineral,
> gem
> > and mining books and publications. Contact him through: www.minbooks.net
> >
> > Lanny
> >
> > > On Mar 5, 2020, at 6:20 PM, Alan Goldstein <deepskyspy at outlook.com>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > What's interesting is the covers of these USGS folios are in pretty
> good
> > shape, considering they are brittle being on non-acid-free paper. (Unlike
> > the interior pages that are acid-free.) Because they were used in a
> > university library, there are penciled notes, ink blots, torn pages,
> taped
> > pages, chunks of a page missing, and such. The big thing is the water
> > stains and mold on the edges. Many of those damaged pages could be
> trimmed
> > with a razor blade. They are all scanned on the USGS website, but I still
> > get more satisfaction flipping through paper. It's more "real."
> > >
> > > I just also received a pile of maps from the same source. The most
> > useless are a stack of 1920s Arkansas topo quad maps. I'm in Indiana /
> > Kentucky. There's a bunch of 1920s Kentucky county aerial geology maps
> > mounted on muslin to keep the paper from tearing. A large 1890 Cahaba
> > Valley, Alabama, coal field geological map is really cool. It would look
> > good on somebody's wall. There is a large 1914 map of the U.S. in two
> parts
> > and a colorful geologic map of eastern Pennsylvania - a real eclectic
> > mixture. Considering how diverse my own library is, I can understand how
> a
> > couple of geology professors can build up a collection over 60+ years.
> > >
> > > I've got a couple geology programs at the Falls of the Ohio this
> weekend
> > and will try to give them away.
> > >
> > > Alan G.
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Rockhounds <rockhounds-bounces at rockhounds.drizzle.com> On Behalf
> > Of gary brown
> > > Sent: Thursday, March 5, 2020 7:04 AM
> > > To: 'Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem
> > collectors' <rockhounds at rockhounds.drizzle.com>
> > > Subject: Re: [Rockhounds] USGS Folios
> > >
> > > Those are fun.  I got a bunch of them around 20 years ago.  They
> fetched
> > from $15 to $100 on eBay.  They were printed on REALLY crappy paper,
> > especially the covers, which chip quite easily.  I've sold most of mine,
> > but kept a handful from interesting areas.  One ideas...  if the written
> > content is damaged beyond use break out the maps <gasp!>.  They were
> > usually printed on better paper and stand up better.  Individual maps
> from
> > significant localities can fetch a good price.  Check with your local
> > antique dealers.  I've got an early 1900's map of the Minneapolis/Saint
> > Paul area hanging on my office door.  I find myself looking at it almost
> > every day.
> > >
> > > GcB
> > >
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