dk nkf - Nordisk Konservatorforbund Danmark

one of the first to be industrialized, and it benefitted
from such development, with the spinning of cotton,
wool, silk and linen, and the weaving factories for
the manufacture of fabrics. Apart from the reduced
labour cost, mechanized production allowed for
better quality and greater uniformity of products.
The same production methods were applied to
the manufacture of paper; the first machine to
manufacture a continuous sheet of paper was
patented by Nicolas-Louis Robert in 1799 and
was used from the 1820s. Wooden machines were
gradually replaced by more robust machines made
of metals such as iron, steel and copper. More
foundries were established to provide the metals.
The production of materials would grow alongside
the development of inland waterways and railways,
which increased and facilitated trades based on river
and land transport.
However, during the 19 th century, an important
change - perhaps even a mutation - took place.
Scientific methodology, applied to natural science
since the end of the 18 th century in order to enrich
and organize the knowledge and carry out new
investigation, began to find practical applications.
It was clearly expressed within books such as
“Treatise of applied chemistry to the arts” (2). It
would be inaccurate to claim that science supported
industry in its infancy: the two grew in parallel and
the convergence would occur later; “it was the time
for unlikely encounters between theories without
applications and inventions without theory” (3).
However, certain laboratory discoveries, made
by chance or by laborious trial-and-error, found
industrial applications due to the flair, initiative
and creativity of their inventors. Industry no longer
based its development only on engineering, but also
benefitted from scientific discoveries and innovations
in the field of chemistry. This led to the marketing of
new materials, some having novel and remarkable
properties, and produced in large quantities. These
changes were celebrated in the literature of the
time as a source of advancement and improvement.
Louis Figuier’s (1819-1894) publications reflected
the faith in the progress of science and industry
towards benefits for humanity as their titles suggest:
“The Wonders of Science” (1867-1869), “History
of the Wonderful in Modern Time” (1859-1862),
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“Great Inventions, Ancient and Modern, in Science,
Industry and the Arts” (1861), “New Conquests of
Science” (1883-1885), “The Day after the Death
or the Future Life According to Science” (1889),
etc. (4). These publications coincided with the
organization of major international exhibitions
devoted to industry. World exhibitions, so-called
“Great Exhibitions of the Works of Industry of
all Nations”, were intended to be the windows to
the industrial revolution and must testify to the
most remarkable inputs (machinery, products, and
materials) from the advent of industrialization. The
first exhibition was held in London in 1851, followed
by another in Paris four years later. France sought to
catch up with England as an industrial nation, and
the competition that arose between them often led
to priority claims on inventions by one or the other
country. Major discoveries and innovations that
were celebrated at the time, and which would have
important repercussions in museums collections,
include paper made from wood (not from textile
fibres), synthetic dyes, celluloid (artificial polymers
derived from cellulose), and photography.
New materials
Paper from wood
During the 19th century in Europe, the demand
for paper for printing newspapers and books was
growing. The lack of old fabrics and cloths of hemp
and linen would lead the paper industry to find a
substitute to meet the increased need. Honoré de
Balzac illustrated that turmoil in his book “The
Lost Illusions”: “you go get me the artichoke stems,
stalks of asparagus, nettles to sting, reeds you cut
off along your small river, and tomorrow I will walk
out of your cellar with the beautiful paper.” (5).
Finally, softwood cellulose would become the new
raw material and, thanks to a chemical treatment,
would provide the source of white paper sheets
from the year 1844. To facilitate the printing of
inks, cellulose fibres would be sized in an acidic
mixture of rosin and alum (aluminum sulfate). This
new sizing, replacing gelatine, would later result in
a disaster for the graphic arts departments, libraries
and archives; the acidification of paper. Indeed,
this sizing induces acids that oxidize and hydrolyze