Despite the puns, an attempt at defining the issue

I think we need to understand both sides in the controversy over Pressing and thereby allow everyone to look at the arguments and make their own decisions, and thereby we can move ahead to decide if Pressing is to be considered restoration, nothing, or something in between.

The argument for Pressing is that you are neither adding nor replacing anything material to the book, and therefore it is still in its original state (i.e. it is the same book as before).

The argument against Pressing is that you are artificially bringing the object closer to its original state (i.e. it is no longer in its "found" state).

(Trimming and the like, it should be noted, is changing the item from what it is into something else, so it would be alteration. The difference between alteration and restoration is that while restoration alters the item by adding material, and is really a form of alteration, it does so in order to restore it to its previous condition.)

The question then becomes what is the collector looking for when s/he is buying high grade books. Is it a book that has withstood the ravages of time, whether through careful storage or serendipity, or is it a book that looks like new? Or, maybe, some in between, and possibly indefinable, state that is only something each collector can feel for his or herself?

But the more I think about it, beyond personal feelings about the issue, I cannot disagree with the Pressers. There are many areas of the field that might, or might not, be "impure," to those who have a visceral hatred of Pressing.

What about a small fold over at a corner, or the small rip at the edge of a book that is bent back so we can see the underside of the cover -- what is it when we carefully bend these back into place (no gluing or taping, just gently repositioning the paper to its original place)? The color break and rip is still there, but the appearance has been changed for the better. Is that restorations?

Should every event that happens be memorialized and added to a books pedigree? What about that tiny drop of water that once got on a page, and instead of letting it soak in and become part of the books condition you took a napkin and dried the page? Is that restoration? What if that happened when the book was new (a kid reading a comic while eating, though I'm sure not Parentally approved, is sure to have happened a few times in the history of Comicdom) and the kid quickly 'restored' the book? What about if that happened later on, when the book was 40 years old and it is quickly 'restored'? Does it make a difference?

What about cleaning? I know it is common practice to take an eraser and gently erase some of the dirt from the backs (or fronts) of comics now and then. Or when one is looking at a book and notices a small spec of something adhering to the book to gently scrape it away with a fingernail. At what point does wiping a fleck of dust off the book become restoration? Is it categorically different than dry-cleaning a book (especially if it the process only removes surface dirt, and does not affect the page color or foxing, if any)?

And what about that edge or corner that pops up a bit, caused by how the books were stored? Can one store it in a way that reverses this bend? Can we really put it on a backing board and in a bag without maintaining that bend exactly as it is? Is this pressing, or just storing? Or is that a convenient way to explain away that we might be 'restoring' a book that has been 'damaged' in some way?

Are we looking for real, authentic books that haven't had any artificial handling at all? Then what about plastic bags? Backing boards? Shouldn't we be allowing time to take its toll on each book as it may so that we have, here in our hands, the true representation of this object of time and space and not some artificially maintained or augmented simulacrum of this book that came out 50 years ago?

I have not exhausted the possible restorations that go on without a thought, or that no one would consider restoration. Others have brought up the fact that storing comics in stacks or tightly packed in comic boxes "Press" the books, and I am sure there will be other examples, common or not.

I hope I have brought up good points and that this creates fruitful discussions, pro and con. I won't be surprised if this issue is never solved, but at least it should be delineated as well as can be and every point brought out so we don't become groups of big- or little-endians fighting past each other.

In closing, I say to one and all -- PRESS ON!!!

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