Digitizing Watermarks in the William Allingham Collection
A collaboration between Digitization Services and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library at the University of Illinois.
William Allingham (1824-1889) was an Irish poet, and a major figure in 19th century publishing, becoming the editor of Fraser’s Magazine in 1874. He and his wife Helen moved in the same social and artistic circles as the English Pre-Raphaelites, as well as luminaries such as Alfred, Lord Tennyson, John Everett Millais, and Dante Rossetti. The William Allingham Digital Collection gathers correspondence and other materials from the papers held in the Rare Books and Manuscript Library online for ease of access.
An example of a watermark. Click image for item information.
Watermarks are designs embedded within the paper itself, usually to identify the manufacturer. Created by altering the density of the paper fibers, these are most easily viewed when the paper is backlit. This creates a challenge for digitization, as there is not an established workflow for mixed-lighting captures. At the request of RBML, we developed a method of capturing these watermarks for the Allingham papers.
