Morison Project Part 1

20 Morison plates

This is a project I've been working on with the Bodleian Library, Oxford & The Plant Sciences Library Oxford with assistance from Oxford University Press and its Archivist.

Method

To clean 20 engraved copper plates associated with Morisons Herbaria publication dating from the 1680’s.

https://www.plants.ox.ac.uk/article

then go to the Blog titled ‘Treasures from the Herbaria: Morison’s Historia Plantarum Universalis Oxoniensis

also of interest

http://muse.jhu.edu/article/610806

Each engraved copper plate is slightly smaller than A3, the plates are not heavy (approx. 500g) but are delicate and need to be handled appropriately. The work entailed assessing each plate for any damage and then cleaning the surface of the plate with a very mild solution in 3 grades (fine, medium and coarse) The solution is a mix of .5 part household ammonia (8% dilution) 2 parts whiting (very fine chalk) and 2 parts water. The solution was applied to a soft cloth which is worked across the plate surface always in a circular motion. This was repeated until the plate surface was clear and as much surface corrosion was removed as possible without damaging the plate, once clean the plate was wrapped in an acid free material and stored. The work was low risk.

Jim Nottingham is an experienced printmaker with over 35 years-experience working within the various disciplines of printmaking. Jim Nottingham has been carrying out a similar restoration and printing project with Oxford University Press since 1995 (but not on Oxford University premises)

Package 1

Plates

8. 1680 Pumpkins (‘Scandentes Pomiferae’) condition poor, surface corrosion, plate cracked on top left about 30mm left corner, repair was carried out at time of printing (1680’s) appears to have not been effective plate surface is uneven, plate has been cut poorly 240mm top, 238 mm bottom, although appears to be greater than that. Plate is 1mm thick although as normal for the times not consistent. Lines look black, will try small cleaning area first using dab of white spirit then polish mix. White spirit did not clean the area, tried meth’s, no change to small area. Polish compound appears to be work well within the small area. Took about 45 mins but cleaning of surface not easy and required a good deal of care, heavy surface corrosion, needed to attend carefully to cracked area. This plate should not be printed because of the crack. Engraver of the plate is M Burghers.

31. 1680 Sensitive plants (‘Legumina’) poor surface, quite dark from oxidisation, can clearly see printed text from newspaper wrapping. This plate appears to be cut more evenly in terms of size, plate is about 1mm thick and not that uneven, no cracks but on back of plate some areas raised for printing. Line work appears to be clear. To note that text that has transferred appear lighter on the plate, so in effect has etched the plate surface. Text removed quite easily, plate in good condition some areas still a little unclear but don’t think it should be cleaned any further for the time being. Slightly darker areas may print at that point may clean again. Plate engraved by M Burghers plate

34. 1680 Cabbages (‘Siliquosae Tetrapetalae Bicapsulares’) The plate surface looks like it’s been splashed with some form of chemical or had something spilled across it and wiped up leaving residue. The plate is approx. 1mm thick, no cracks. Line work appears to be clear, plate not marked by engravers name. The splashed type areas cleaned up easily although some spots were difficult to remove, the plate after cleaning looked in good condition with no obvious areas that would affect printing. An engravers name is not present on the plate but after cleaning I don’t think it’s M Burghers.

74. 1680 Tulips (‘Tricapsulares Hexapetalae’) dark plate surface corrosion, can see newsprint on plate a couple of chemical splashes of some sort, plate different size by 5mm, plate 1mm thick not engraved by Burghers but can’t quite make out who it was …Sonmas?...& Danhoae??...style of engraving quite different, no apparent damage such as cracks etc. although bottom right hand corner bent probably as a result of dropping on its corner. Fairly easy to clean, some cuts around edges suggest some rough handling at some time but otherwise good condition.

75. 1680 Fritillaries (‘Tricapsulares Hexapetalae’) dark plate surface looks fairly uniform in patina, plate uniform size and about 1mm thick, engravers looks like W Faithorne?. Easy to clean, no surprises, some small surface damages, spots of something that’s etched into the surface which could not be removed and will when printed show.

Package 2

Plates

131. 1680 Sunflowers (‘Plantae Corybmiferae Sen Corymbosae’) plate surface not too bad, plate size uniform, plate thickness 1mm, some marks on centre of plate that look like scrapping, engraver F H Van Hove. Fairly easy to clean, some areas of odd oxidisation something quite abrasive must has been in contact with the plate at some time, but it was removed fairly easily, scrapped area in centre of plate still present and may be a problem when printing.

152. 1680 Oxford Ragwort (‘Plantae Pappescentes Lacrescentes’) plates surface poor, no obvious chemical splashes or damage, no engraver marked on plate but looks like Burghers. Plate size uniform and about 1mm thick. Fairly easy to clean, some areas of engraved text had been punched up from the cask of the plate and quite a deep scratch at lower/centre area, which will show if printed.

177. 1680. Pineapples & Cactuses (‘Plantae Spinosae Cardus Affines’) plate surface poor what looks like water may have been on surface then pulled away from lines, odd patterning across plate, engraver name marked F H Van Hove, fairly easy plate to clean, no issue areas.

178. 1680 Wheat (‘Plantae Culmifera Spicate Cerealia Dictae Granis Laevibus’) plate surface reasonably clear except for some light oxidisation, plate has an upwards bend, probably the result of being in a stack of plates, plate size looks to be regular and plate thickness 1mm, engraver is Burghers. On cleaning tiny ‘dit’ of some sort, in upper left perhaps a repair, small in size probably would not affect any printing.

190. 1680 Maize (‘Plantae Culmiferae Heteroclitae Variae’) plate surface poor, visible letter etc. form newspapers on plate uneven corrosion on plate suggests different exposures, bottom right of plate distinct dark area. Engraver is Burghers. Plate size even, plate thickness about 1mm. Plate easy to clean, a few small stubborn areas, lovely plate in terms of the engraving.

Package 3

Plates

191. 1680 Gingers (‘Plantae Cjjlmiferae Radicibus Tuberosis’) plate surface poor, various oxidisation and marks dark around right hand edges, plate has a slight curve size of plate uniform and about 1mm thick engraver Burghers. Not easy to clean, some of the plate surface quite dark and a little stubborn.

208. Carrots 1680 (‘Umbellae’) plate condition poor, can clearly see newspaper text on surface of the plate dark area to lower right hand side of plate, plate not evenly sized plate about 1mm thick, engraver is Burghers some areas of text punched up from underside of plate. Easy to clean some deep areas of tarnish but generally Ok. Top left hand corner of plate has been dropped at some point bent damage to corner.

227. 1680 Mints (‘Plantae Galeatae Verticillatae’) Heavy plate oxidation, some chemical marks of some sort, signs of the wrapper used, plate is uniform in size and about 1mm thick. Some punched up areas on back of plate. Engraver is Burghers. Plate easy to clean, the low and high areas where text has been punched up were a little more of a problem but should print without issue.

254. 1680 Monkshoods (‘Plantae Multicapsulares Capsulis Disjunctis’) Dark plate mark lots of oxidisation does not appear to have any chemical splashes etc. can clearly see newspaper text on surface of plate. Plate is uniform in size and about 1mm thick plate engraved by F H Van Hove, very different style to Burghers. Harder plate to clean, dark areas more difficult to remove, probably one of the hardest so far, but looks good, no obvious problems for printing.

262. 1680 Lady's Slipper Orchids (‘Plantae Multicapslares Polyspermae’) plate dark with some oxidation can clearly see text on plate some indications of chemical splashes, plate is not quite uniform and about 1mm thick. Areas of the plate have been punched up on rear of plate text areas towards the top of the plate. The plate is engraved by F H Van Hove, Cleaned fairly easily, plate not even upward curve but should be ok for printing, note scratch on plate in centre about 80mm long, unfortunate.

Package 4

Plates

270. 1680 Potatoes/ Tomatoes (‘Plantae Bacciferae Racemosae’) plate dark in places oxidised but reticulated somewhat, some signs of chemical damage, plate slightly bent even size about 1mm thick some faint signs of newsprint, engraver is F H Van Hove, fairly easy to clean some of the areas needed some extra help but other than that OK, some small parts of plate Top right have small lump or deposit did not try to remove but it may come off when being printed.

July 17^th 2017

271.  1680 Mandrake (‘Plantae Baccifera Fructu Simplici’) Dark plate some lettering can be seesn across surface, even sizing and about 1mm thick engraver F H Van Hove, fairly easy to clean some areas had a lot of text on the plate from newspapers, some tiny imperfections on the pate which will show when printing.

276. 1680 Cyclamens (‘Plantae Bacciferis Affines Floribus Nutantibus’) plate not too bad condition some reticulation around engraved areas, looks like a chemical of some sort wiped across the surface of the plate some areas of text form newspapers, engraver is F H Van Hove, Plate is uniform size and about 1mm thick Plate easy to clean, a few harder areas but generally good. Again, some small areas of imperfections that will print.

278. 1680 Ferns (‘Plantae Capillares Tollis Lobatis’) plate dark and has some chemical splash across lower middle area, newsprint can be seen quite dark. Plate is uniform in size and 1mm thick engraver is F H Van Hove. Not that easy to clean, quite allot of poor areas caused by what looked like cloth of some sort across the upper half of the palate. The chemical splash across the lower centre of the plate was removed easily.

288. 1680 Lichens & Duchess of Beaufort (*‘Plantae Anomalae Inferioris Ordins Musli Et Musco-Fungi’) Dark plate with some areas very dark of top right hand side, newsprint text can be easily seen some form of chemical across some parts of the plate repaired in 2 places on back but front looks fine, regular size and about 1mm thick, plate is very slightly bowed. Plate engraved by Burghers. Hard to clean some of the areas quite obstinate, perhaps because it’s such a nice plate interesting crest of the plate probably a major donor? Some areas of faults in the plate, not corrosion think but more probable some flaws in the copper itself that have gotten worse over time, they will probably print but can be controlled through plate wiping.

General notes

Size of plate varies in height & width usually by only 3-5mm but interesting for print production with such uneven plates…but did that matter with this publication? Plates are generally in great condition, indications are that the publication ran to about 750? copies which is a low number for the engraved plates.

The cleaning process took 3 days in total with 1 day prep work, after cleaning the plates were placed in a glassine sleeve and put back into the packages they had come in and in the correct order. Some photographic evidence of all the cleaned plates and some videos taken of the cleaning process.

Next Steps

The printing of a selection of some of the cleaned plates is the obvious next step. I haven’t had the opportunity to view the facilities available within the Centre for the Study of the Book. The type of press I would need would be a geared rolling press, perhaps to note that OUP has one in its Museum which I have used in the past.

Notes

https://www.plants.ox.ac.uk/article/herbarium-treasures-morison’s-historia-plantarum-universalis-oxoniensis

http://muse.jhu.edu/article/610806

From Dr Stephen Harris, Druce Curator Oxford University Herbarium

Plate Number	Morison classification	Theme
8	Sect. 1, Tab. 8	Pumpkins
31	Sect. 2, Tab. 23	Sensitive plants
34	Sect. 3, Tab. 1	Cabbages
74	Sect. 4, Tab. 17	Tulips
75	Sect. 4, Tab. 18	Fritillaries
131	Sect. 6, Tab. 6	Sunflowers
152	Sect. 7, Tab. 12	Oxford ragwort
177	Sect. 7, Tab. 37	Pineapples & cactuses
178	Sect. 8, Tab. 1	Wheat
190	Sect. 8, Tab. 13	Maize
191	Sect. 8, Tab. 14	Gingers
208	Sect. 9, Tab. 13	Carrots
227	Sect. 11, Tab. 7	Mints
254	Sect. 12, Tab. 3	Monkshoods
262	Sect. 12, Tab. 11	Lady's slipper orchids
270	Sect. 13, Tab. 1	Potatoes/ tomatoes
271	Sect. 13, Tab. 2	Mandrake
276	Sect. 13, Tab. 7	Cyclamens
278	Sect. 14, Tab. 2	Ferns
288	Sect. 15, Tab. 7	Lichens & Duchess of Beaufort