Final agreement sees historic Wadewitz library move to CalPoly

Jul 16, 2013 at 07:55 pm by Staff


Printing Industries of America is giving its renowned Wadewitz graphic arts library collection – thought to be the world’s largest – to US university Cal Poly.
Rare materials from the collection will be added to the special collections and archives department of the university’s Robert E. Kennedy Library. The main Edward H. Wadewitz Memorial Library collection housed at an on-campus site yet to be prepared.
First established in 1923 at the Lithographic Technical Foundation’s headquarters in Chicago, the Wadewitz Library moved to Pittsburgh in 1965, when the LTF became the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation. GATF consolidated with Printing Industries of America in 2003, and the name was changed to Printing Industries of America in 2008.
For 90 years, the library has been a valuable resource for industry professionals and a unique tool for researchers, chemists, physicists, educators, scholars and students.

The library houses what is thought to be the largest intact collection of technical information and literature for the field of graphic communication and printing processes and related publications in the arts, sciences, engineering and business.
Its holdings include more than 180 currently published magazines and periodicals; 100 inactive or no-longer-published magazines dating back to the first issues of National Lithographer published in 1894; more than 15,000 books, texts and reports describing every aspect of the graphic communication and print processes; past and present GATF/LTF-published materials; Printing Industries of America publications, reports and affiliate information; information on related industry associations; and a variety of directories and other reference material.
Collections of historical interest and value include:
• The Frank Preucil Collection of 1,400 books. Preucil was considered the ‘father of densitometry’ having promoted the use of colour reflection densitometry to control and evaluate process colour printing in lithography. This extensive collection is thought to be one of the most complete historical libraries on the graphic arts process. The collection also includes rare books on printing and one of the few complete collections of the Penrose Annual.
• The Dr. Fred W. Billmeyer Collection of more than 200 books on colour and related subjects, several complete collections of periodicals relating to colour, and bound transcripts and reports. Billmeyer was a world-renowned colour scientist, and his collection includes materials from the International Commission on Illumination. He also authored many books on colour and polymers.
• The R.S. Fisch-Robert L. Leslie Graphic Arts Collection of books and journals on photography and photographic processes. The 200-plus books in the collection were published between 1855 and 1999 and include several very rare editions. Notable books are Photographic Chemistry by Thomas Frederick Hardwich, published in 1864, and Photographic Mosaics by Edward Livingston Wilson and Mathew Carey Lea, published in 1866. Fisch worked for 35 years as a corporate scientist in the Printing and Publishing Systems Division of 3M Co. and holds 37 U.S. patents on colour photography, photo resist imaging, non-silver imaging, colour proofing, silver recovery, and substrate addendum.
• The Lee Augustine Collection with more than 500 rare volumes on the history of printing, including The Printers Manual dated 1817, believed to be the first printing manual published in the USA.
• The William Stevens Collection, named after a former GATF research committee chairman, contains more than 50 graphic arts books, clippings and advertisements dating from the early 1900s.
• The Printing Industries of America Collection of early PIA books, reports and early board meeting minutes.
• The Al Materazzi Collection includes early Research Department reports from the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation and its predecessor, the Lithographic Technical Foundation. Materazzi was deeply involved in environmental issues and compliance work and was involved in preparing data and documentation related to lithographic platemaking.
• The Seybold Collection of all published Seybold Reports, including reports and books.
Levensoin says the agreement to transfer the monumental collection to Cal Poly concludes months of negotiations: “The Wadewitz Library will be a major resource for students, professors and members of industry from North America and around the world.”
Physical transfer of the E.H. Wadewitz collection will commence once financial commitments are confirmed.
Cal Poly’s university librarian Anna Gold says the Wadewitz collection will bring new depth and breadth to existing library strengths in the technology and history of the printing industry. “In this digital age, there’s renewed interest in print processes,” she says. “We are delighted to imagine Cal Poly as the future home of a collection that means so much to industry leaders.”
Dee Gentile, Printing Industries of America managing editor and information officer, played a key role in transferring the library holdings. She discovered the Wadewitz Library on her first visit to the GATF in 1974.
“I have spent many days in the library conducting research and learning about the print and graphic communication industry,” she says. “There is still much to be learned from these historical holdings. Cal Poly will be a great place for students and others to delve into the depth of the holdings and rich history of the industry.”
The Resource Room contains many rare publications, including a complete set of American Printer magazines dating from 1883 and a complete set of Graphic Arts Monthly from its beginnings in 1929.
The project, including “site preparation, review, description and relocation” of the collection will cost about $100,000, with ongoing services to provide access put at another $20,000 per year, of which an initial $25,000 has been received.
Retired head of Cal Poly’s graphic communication department Harvey Levenson, who is now director of the university’s graphic communication institute, says those wanting to support the initiative can make individual and corporate contributions and be recognised as a sponsor.

Sections: Print business

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