From: Sandy King (sanking@clemson.edu)
Date: 01/04/03-12:37:06 PM Z
This message has a comment and a question.
First, the comment. On p. 167-68 Christopher James describes a
process he calls the "Brownprint." The difference between this
process and regular VDB are said to be that 1) it uses oxalic acid
in place of tartaric acid, and that 2) development is in a mixture of
borax and water rather than in plain water. It is also stated that
after proper exposure there is a "stage whisper" of an image as in
kallitype, which suggests that the "Brownprint" is a DOP process and
not POP like VDB.
OK, I mixed the sensitizing solution as per James and tried his
"Brownprint." The results were very disappointing. Sensitivity was
very much less than what one sees with VDB, about two full stops.
Also, I tested development in both plain water and in the borax acid
mixture and there was no difference at all. Finally, the image before
development was much more similar to what one sees with VDB than with
kallitype.
If anyone else has tried the "Brownprint" process as described by
James and gotten good results I would be interested in having some
details of your work.
Next, the question.
In all of the previous literature at my disposal, including Dick
Stevens' book on the kallitype, the term "Brownprint" is used to
describe a form of printing that most of us understand as VDB. That
is, the sensitizer is based on ferric ammonium citrate, tartarid acid
and silver nitrate. Does anyone know the historical origin of James'
use of the term, which differentiates it from regular VDB?
Sandy King
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