I have so many millions of things to say to you which are quite unwritable until asbestos writing paper is invented
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four (of eight collotype plates), cropped to square —
Italian Asbestos. “The Grey.”
Italian Asbestos. “The Flossy.”
Italian Fibre. “The Silky.”
Picrolite. “Bastard Asbestos.”
click on any image for larger view
ex Robert H. Jones. Asbestos : Its Properties, Occurrences, & Uses; with some account of the mines of Italy and Canada (London, 1890)
Harvard copy/scan (via google books) : link
same (via hathitrust) : link
U California copy/scan (via google books) : link
same (via hathitrust) : link
asbestos came up, whilst searching for language having to do with charred paper, not yet crumbled to formless ash. there have been asbestos papers for various purposes. See discussion of asbestos in writing and cigarette papers at pp 177-178 : link
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epigram from letter from Belle da Costa Greene to Bernard Berenson (23 January 1910)
Bernard and Mary Berenson Papers, Greene, Belle da Costa, Box 60, Folder 6, Belle da Costa Greene Correspondence, Biblioteca Berenson, I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Renaissance Studies
link
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