Editing Sizing (section)

== Preservation ==
While sizing is intended to make paper more suitable for printing, acidic sizing using rosin also makes printing paper less durable and poses a problem for preservation of printed documents. 

Sizing with starch was introduced quite early in the history of papermaking.<ref>Robert Henderson Clapperton and William Henderson. ''Modern Paper-making''. 3rd ed. (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1947), 120.</ref> Dard Hunter in ''Papermaking through Eighteen Centuries''<ref name="available on line">Dard Hunter, ''Papermaking through Eighteen Centuries''. (New York: William Edwin Rudge, 1930), 141. [http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm/ref/collection/DardHunter/id/1614 available on line] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192811/http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm/ref/collection/DardHunter/id/1614 |date=2013-10-29 }}</ref> corroborates this by writing, "The Chinese used starch as a size for paper as early as A.D. 768 and its use continued until the fourteenth century when animal glue was substituted."<ref name="available on line"/> In the early modern paper mills in Europe, which produced paper for printing and other uses, the sizing agent of choice was [[gelatin]], as Susan Swartzburg writes in ''Preserving Library Materials''': "Various substances have been used for sizing through the ages, from gypsum to animal gelatin."<ref>Susan G. Swartzburg, ''Preserving Library Materials: A Manual''. 2nd ed. (Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, 1995), 131.</ref> Hunter describes the process of sizing in these paper mills in the following:

{{Quote|The drying completed, the old papermakers dipped their paper into an animal size that had been made from the parings of hides, which they procured from the parchment-makers.  It was necessary to size that paper so that it would be impervious to ink, but sizing was more needed in writing than in printing papers. Many books of the fifteenth century were printed upon paper that had not been sized, this extra treatment not being essential for a type impression. The sizing was accomplished by a worker holding a number of sheets by the aid of two wooden sticks, and dipping the paper into the warm gelatinous liquid. The sheets were then pressed to extract the superfluous gelatine. This crude method of sizing the paper was extremely wasteful as many sheets were torn and bruised beyond use. The sizing room of the early paper mills, was, for this reason, known as the 'slaughter-house'.<ref name="available on line"/>}}

With the advent of the mass production of paper, the type of size used for paper production also changed. As Swartzburg writes, "By 1850 [[rosin]] size had come into use. Unfortunately, it produces a chemical action that hastens the decomposition of even the finest papers."<ref>Swartzburg, ''Preserving Library Materials'', 131.</ref> In the field of library preservation it is known "that acid hydrolysis of cellulose and related carbo-hydrates [sic] is one of the key factors responsible for the degradation of paper during ageing."<ref>Altaf H. Basta and others, "The Role of Neutral Rosin-Alum Size in the Production of Permanent Paper." ''Restaurator: International Journal for the Preservation of Library and Archival Material'', 27, no. 2 (2006): 67.</ref> Some professional work has focused on the specific processes involved in the degradation of rosin-sized paper,<ref>Houssni El-Saied, Altaf H. Basta and Mona M. Abdou. "Permanence of Paper 1: Problems and Permanency of Alum-Rosin Sized Paper Sheets from Wood Pulp." ''Restaurator: International Journal for the Preservation of Library and Archival Material'', 19, no. 3 (1998): 155–171.</ref> in addition to work on developing permanent paper and sizing agents that will not eventually destroy the paper.<ref>Altaf H. Basta and others, "The Role of Neutral Rosin-Alum Size in the Production of Permanent Paper," 67-80.</ref> An issue on the periphery to the preservation of paper and sizing, is washing, which is described by V. Daniels and J. Kosek as, "The removal of discolouration&nbsp;... in water is principally effected by the dissolution of water-soluble material; this is usually done by immersing paper in water."<ref>V. Daniels and J. Kosek, . "Studies on the Washing of Paper, Part 1: The Influence of Wetting on the Washing Rate." ''Restaurator: International journal for the Preservation of Library and Archival Material'', 25, no. 2 (2004): 81.</ref> In such a process, surface level items applied to the paper, such as size in early paper making processes as seen above, have the possibility of being removed from the paper, which might have some item specific interest in a special collections library. With later processes in paper making being more akin to "engine sizing," as H. Hardman and E. J. Cole describe it, "Engine sizing, which is part of the manufacturing process, has the ingredients added to the furnish or stock prior to sheet formation,"<ref>H. Hardman, and E. J. Cole. ''Paper-making Practice''. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1960), 112.</ref> the concern for the removal of size is less, and as such, most literature focuses on the more pressing issue of preserving acidic papers and similar issues.