Albumen toning questions

[Judy Seigel <jseigel@panix.com>]

Dear List,

A friend of mine began albumen printing from the instructions in
Christopher James book. He had a number of questions, however, so I copied
James Riley's book for him, also Mike Robinson's chapter in Coming into
Focus. These answered some more, but questions remain -- and I thought
answers might be lurking on this list.

1. He likes the color of the untoned albumen print better than the gold
toned print. I told him I thought you need the gold toning for
archivality, but wondered if that's gospel or just belief.

2. I thought there would probably be other toners to try besides gold...
but they aren't mentioned.  How about selenium?  Polytoner?

3. He's been toning AFTER fixing. Is the color different if you tone
before fixing?

4. How do you decide whether to tone before or after fixing?  Some people
do one, some the other. Why?

Thanks in advance for any eggspertise shared.

Judy