UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., June 21 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania State University scientist says he has developed a rather simple method for determining the age of very old art prints and books.
Blair Hedges, a Penn State biology professor, said the method he developed could reveal long-sought information about thousands of undated works printed on hand-operated presses prior to the development of modern printing methods in the mid-19th century.
"The discovery that the wood blocks and metal plates used for printmaking deteriorate at a clock-like rate means we can now use the prints as a "print clock" for determining the date a work was printed," said Hedges.
"This method of dating books using predictable woodcut and engraving degeneration constitutes one of those rare 'Aha!' moments in bibliographical studies," added David Gants, an expert on the physical characteristics of early books at the University of New Brunswick in Canada, who did not participate in the research.
"If the method works across woodcuts from different periods in the hand-press period, then it will -- in one stroke -- render antiquated the existing strategies for dating books," added Gants.
The research is detailed in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences.
