Every paper and plate company (and, originally, there were a lot of them) published its own house version of directions and recipes for success.  The tips within the pages of these little masterpieces are invaluable.  In a sense, when we are using antique processes, we must be time travelers, visiting the past with the goal of fitting in, rather than trying to impose our modern attitudes and knowledge; going deep into a new culture with its own rhythms and and wisdoms.