Patrick Scheible wrote in message ...

You can view beautifully preserved newspapers older than 75 years at Baker's
American Newspaper Repository:

http://home.gwi.net/~dnb/gallery.htm

A few fortunate examples doesn't mean they'd survive that long
in general, especially in a library where they get used.



Of course, all of Baker's "examples" come from library discards--which
one would assume are in the worst condition.

I made the point earlier, but the proper temperature and humidity
conditions can probably extend the life of woodpulp newsprint and
other paper indefinitely.

As for library "use"--that doesn't mean using them up, i.e., careful
use need not be a great danger to the life of the kind of material we
are discussing. And we are not talking about overuse either. A lot
of this material will be used only very infrequently. For some, this
has meant a license to discard. For others, it's a sacred mission to
preserve our literary culture. Nick Basbanes tells the story in
PATIENCE & FORTITUDE of trying to confirm a citation in A GENTLE
MADNESS. He needed a particular edition of the book in question and
Harvard (his go-to source) didn't have it. He found it, though, in
the Boston Public Library. He took the books (published c. 1900) to
be checked out and discovered that they had never been charged. He
commented to the librarian, noting that the books had probably never
been used, "I wonder who these books were purchased and held all these
years for?" The librarian responded, "Why for you, Mr. Basbanes."



William M. Klimon
http://www.gateofbliss.com