U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | vernis soehnee

vernis soehnee



On Tue, 7 Aug 2007, Christina Z. Anderson wrote:

Apparently Koesters' book was fairly respected because he "standardized" gum. His stain test was quoted in 1906 and 1908 in the BJP, too.
What was the NAME of Koester's book, Chris?

Crystal varnish recipe from the Photo Beacon for Judy to make her "vernis soehnee" millions; get that huge kettle out:

gum sandarac 10 lb, Canada balsam 2 lb, copal varnish 20 oz, oil of lavender 8 oz and alocohol methylated spirit 8 gal.
Chris, did he CALL it "Vernis Soehnee"? That was a proprietary name, for a varnish sold by Soehnee company. I've got quite a number of varnish formulas (tho it's hard to get Canada balsam... really icky stuff, BTW) and have figured Demachy's Vernis Soehnee could well be one of them (a book of formulas I have mentions it by name & goes so far as to reveal "alcohol" as solvent, tho no more) -- so if this one calls it by name, that would be unusual -- AND terrific !

I have another book of that period with a title something like "Money Making Formulas" with everything from shoe polish to ink and hair dye. It's got some varnishes, too... and those quantities sound about right ! (I was, however, thinking more in terms of, say, a quart.... which would be a lifetime supply -- if it keeps. Shellac, for instance, doesn't keep, or not for a lifetime.)

J.


Research research research, relieved a bit from a wonderful visit with Thom Mitchell who was in town today. So nice to connect visually with other alt listers! We gabbed photo for 3 hours!!

Chris




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Christina Z. Anderson
Assistant Professor, Photo Option Coordinator
Montana State University, VCB 220
Box 173350
Bozeman Montana 59718
406.994.6219
CZAphotography.com
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