Hey there resto buddies.... this is fun.
Latin:
"auctoritas" one of my favorite words and ancestor to authenticity.  At
first meaning power, authority, later creativity and originality and still
later the soul, heart: the being.  To have it said that you had or had
attained auctoritas you had reached the knowblest plain.
"Augeo, Augere":  to make grow or to increase as in the size of an army. And
Auctor:  original family member.
Someone said for a thing to be authentic it must have the authority of its
originator.  And more, something authentic has primacy.
    The issue is when you take too much away you no longer have the thing or
object that was original.  I say: everything is authentic until proven fake
beyond a shadow of a doubt.
    Authenticity is like honor and integrity:  they're genuine.
And thrat's that.
Best,
Leland

. ----- Original Message -----
From: "JRhodes" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2001 1:36 PM
Subject: Defining authenticity


Marilyn writes:

>Can someone tell me what the difference is between authenticity and
integrity?
>Can anyone tell me where I can find a definition of authenticity
>that I can understand?
>Sorry for what is probably a really stupid question.

Rhodes writes:

Not a stupid question at all. The National Register Bulletin #15
defines Historic Integrity as "The unimpaired ability of a property
to convey its historical significance."  In assessing integrity of a
property one asks if there is sufficiency to to recall its
significance or to yield important information about that property.
It is therefore possible for a property to lose its integrity due to
alteration or damage.

In one of the papers from the 1966 ICOMOS National Comittees of the
Americas held in San Antonio at the International Symposium on
Authenticity in the Conservation and Management of the Cultural
Heritage, several persons addressed the meaning of the word
authenticity including:

Christina Cameron:

Definition:  "It originated in the Greek language and was used
through the Middle Ages, with the meaning of something done in one's
own hand, hence something having authority.  An 'authentic' document
meant that it represented the 'true' instructions of the King or the
'true' version of a Biblical text.  In simple terms, the word
'authentic' was applied to the message itself, not to the containerS"

  "Sthe word 'authentic' exists in Indo-European languages.  It does
not exist in Japanese, Sri Lankan, Chinese and other languages.
Perhaps it is not the best word to use."

Also Maria de las Nieves Arias Incolla:

"The term 'authentic' comes from the Greek and means 'the primordial,
the primary, what is of value to all.'  Something is authentic when
its identity is established beyond question, that is, when something
is 'what it is supposed to be.'  Legitimization of authenticity comes
from the testimonial value of a work.  It also serves its integrity,
and thus integrity is synonymous with authenticity."

Rhodes writes:

As you can see, the term "integrity" means different things to
different people just as there are these (and many more) definitions
and interpretations of the word word "authenticity" both in the
proceedings and other writings.  And I have my own interpretations,
but this should give you a taste of how complex the term is.  As for
importance, the announcement to the symposium boldly stated,
"Authenticity is the foundation on which all preservation work is
based."  (!!!)

Find yourself a copy of the whole proceedings.  Its a good read on
the many perspectives on authenticty.  The book Lisa Sasser put me on
to, by Knut Einar Larsen and Nils Marstein: Conservation of Historic
Timber Structures / An ecological aproach has an excellent chapter on
the subject.

It's also good we ask questions.  Dialog helps.

--Jim