Paper Conservation: Decisions & Compromises

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Practice and Progress in the <strong>Conservation</strong>, Preservation and Digitization of the Dead Sea Scrolls pnina shor | lena libman | tanya bitler | tanya treiger Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem, Israel The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Judean Desert some sixty years ago, in 1947, is considered one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in modern times. The scrolls were either written or copied in the Land of Israel between 250 bce and 68 ce. They represent the oldest written record of the Old Testament, and contain the earliest copies of every book of the Bible, except for the Book of Esther. This ‘Ancient Library’ enables us a glance into a period of time pivotal to both Judaism and Christianity. Thanks to these remarkable texts, our knowledge concerning the origins of Judaism and early Christianity has been greatly enriched. Issues of conservation, preservation and documentation of the Dead Sea Scrolls have concerned both scholars and conservators ever since the scrolls’ discovery. The removal of the fragile scrolls from the caves, where they had been preserved for over 2,000 years, interrupted the environmental stability that had ensured their preservation for so long. Since their discovery, the scrolls were damaged by ravages of time, as well as from mishandling and mistreatment. In 1991, the Israel Antiquities Authority (iaa) advised by leading experts in issues relating to conservation of manuscripts written on parchment and papyrus - established a designated conservation laboratory for the preservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The conservation and preservation of the scrolls has since been an ongoing task due to their extreme brittleness and the need to meet up with the most up-to-date conservation methods. Currently, the iaa is collaborating with international experts to reevaluate the conservation techniques under use, and to decide upon courses of action for still unresolved issues. The iaa is also engaged in an advanced, large-scale digitization project, which was initiated as part of the conservation efforts. This project includes the development of a monitoring system for the state of preservation of the scrolls and the creation of highest-quality color images and advanced near infra-red images. As the publication of the scrolls is formally completed, the iaa will upload the digitized scroll images online, with their transcriptions, translations, commentaries and bibliography, allowing a free access to all. The Dead Sea Scrolls are a universal cultural heritage. As such, it is our duty to safeguard the scrolls and preserve them for future generations, sharing them with the public and scholarly community worldwide. Authors pnina@israntique.org.il libman@israntique.org.il bitler@israntique.org.il IAA, Israel Antiquities Authority ICOM-CC Graphic Documents Working Group Interim Meeting | Vienna 17 – 19 April 2013 50
The Language of Parchment – Learning about the History of Manuscripts with the Help of Visual Assessment of the Parchment Jirí Vnoucek The Royal Library, Department of Preservation, Copenhagen, Denmark Introduction Studies of the physical appearance of the parchment, which has been used for writing manuscripts, can provide an interesting supplement to the existing forms of manuscript research and help to create a more complex image of the information recorded in medieval books. The rocketing development of modern technologies has also brought a great improvement in scientific analyses of materials. In recent years we have been given very detailed and exact information about collagen fibre and amino acids, the basic component of parchment. From microscopically sized samples it is possible to identify the DNA of the animal from whose skin the parchment was produced or to analyse the processes that caused degradation of the collagen fibre. Although this information opens up new horizons in many fields of this research, it is still necessary to interpret the results obtained correctly and within the context of further studies in sciences that support history and namely studies of codicology in order to exploit their potentials to the full. It is rather paradoxical that on the one hand we can learn almost intimate details about the parchment itself while on the other hand the description of parchment in codicological literature lags far behind, being content with general descriptions of its qualities, often vague and inexact, and it is only occasionally that specific features are noted which are characteristic for different types of parchment and its methods of preparation. It is not rare for these to be presented more like curiosities than important information for a detailed description and further studies of the parchment. It seems that codicologists are slightly uncertain as to what is to be expected from modern scientific analyses, since their questions in this field are mostly limited to the identification of the types of animal skin from which parchment was made or they expect answers to rather bizarre questions concerning the use of uterine parchment and other rarities, theories which turn up in literature repeatedly. In this context it might be thought quite surprising that rather simple non-destructive methods of visual observation of parchment can yield a whole spectrum of interesting information that can enrich our knowledge not only about parchment itself but also about the whole production of parchment manuscripts and their history. In my master’s thesis called “Defects and damage in parchment manuscripts – an aid to visual examination of parchment for writing purposes” (2010), I have focused my research on the different types of imperfections and damage, which can be found in parchment manuscripts. These were examined and described in chapters referring to the ways in which they appeared in parchment. For example, anatomical evidence about the animal from whose skin the parchment was made, evidence of the steps in the process of manufacture of the parchment or the preparation of its surface for the writing and production of the codex. Different forms of aging and damages of parchment as they developed during the long history of the manuscripts were examined and described and their potential as a source of information discussed. In order to be able to recognize differences in the parchments in manuscripts it is also important to understand the methods of their preparation, which differed in the course of time and according to their place of production. Practical experiments with the manufacture of parchment can help to verify some of the theories or hypotheses. Reconstruction of the methods of production of the parchment can also reveal the origin of some of the imperfections that can later be recognized in historical manuscripts. During my subsequent work with parchment manuscripts I have realized that all these specific “signs or traits” are displaying information that can be brought into line like stones in mosaics which, if set up correctly, can create a more com- ICOM-CC Graphic Documents Working Group Interim Meeting | Vienna 17 – 19 April 2013 51
Page 1 and 2: Paper Conservation: Decisions & Com
Page 3 and 4: Content Lieve Watteeuw Introduction
Page 5: Michael Wheeler | Nicholas Barnard
Page 8 and 9: New Trends in Preservation in the D
Page 10 and 11: and monitoring against adverse envi
Page 12 and 13: Steve Hobaica, Patrick Loughney, Ma
Page 14 and 15: The Albums of Duke Charles de Croÿ
Page 16 and 17: Fig. 4: turning the supporting pape
Page 18 and 19: Fig. 2: Close-up of some of the los
Page 20 and 21: manuscript paper, the binding would
Page 22 and 23: Figure 2 partial sewing: the blue d
Page 24 and 25: Books in Exhibitions: History and A
Page 26 and 27: Fig. 4 Museum in London and the pre
Page 28 and 29: Risk and Safety of Illuminated Manu
Page 30 and 31: Fig. 2 Atlas, the Crown papers are
Page 32 and 33: Acknowledgments The authors would l
Page 34 and 35: Verdigris I: Compromises in Conserv
Page 36 and 37: Verdigris 2: Wet Chemical Treatment
Page 38 and 39: Integrated Modelling: The Demograph
Page 40 and 41: Fig. 3: The consequence of 50 insta
Page 42 and 43: Characterisation of Historical Pape
Page 44 and 45: pling is required, tide-lines are c
Page 46 and 47: Study of Phytate Chelating Treatmen
Page 48 and 49: Evaluation of stochiometric effects
Page 52 and 53: Fig. 1 Fig. 2 plex picture and prov
Page 54 and 55: Fig. 2: Coloured paper strips place
Page 56 and 57: the fire (on the other hand paper,
Page 58 and 59: inform decisions on conservation tr
Page 60 and 61: This paper summarizes what is known
Page 62 and 63: 2. Methods An interdisciplinary met
Page 64 and 65: Fig. 4: Dyed endpaper pasted at the
Page 66 and 67: Preservation of Architectural Drawi
Page 68 and 69: Notes 1 According Salvador Muñoz V
Page 70 and 71: course of time under the influence
Page 72 and 73: the curators in review of the treat
Page 74 and 75: cellulose powders with cellulose et
Page 76 and 77: Authors Xing Kung Liao Conservator
Page 78 and 79: Fig. 2: Our Railroad Workers and th
Page 80 and 81: The Restoration of Cartoons at the
Page 82 and 83: tation presumes that the works are
Page 84 and 85: To Remove or Retain? - Extensive In
Page 86 and 87: Fig. 4 repeated applications until
Page 88 and 89: The Migration of Hydroxy Propyl Cel
Page 90: tion issue allowed a visualisation
Page 93 and 94: Ethical Considerations Concerning t
Page 95 and 96: emoved with damp cotton swab. Then
Page 97 and 98: Conservation of a Book of Hours fro
Page 99 and 100: Fig. 4: Pigments movement and conse
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Notes 1 Brazilwood lake, lapis lazu
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pages, which would easily have torn
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The Microflora Inhabiting Leonardo
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Acknowledgments The authors would l
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Microorganisms in Books - First Res
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hyaline white mycelia on and in the
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Deconstructing the Reconstruction E
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Fig. 3: Poster after 2012 conservat
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Conservators’ Investigation of Ch
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had been used, may be false-positiv
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function will provide a holistic pi
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Fig. 2: Patriarchs of Chan Buddhism
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ing techniques, which build upon fu
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Applications of Image Processing So
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Fig. 3 Fig. 4 images in a single wi
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Analysing Deterioration Artifacts i
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Fig. 3 similarity maps. Similarity
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Strategy in the Case of a Wrecked P
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without preliminary consolidation.
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Fiber Optic Reflectance Spectroscop
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Fig. 3: 18 th century paper seal, i
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Fig. 3 Fig. 4 of responsibilities r
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Characterising the Origin of Carbon
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Fig. 3: Sampling depth for ATR spec
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Fig. 2: Filmoplast® tape attached
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Pluchart, F. 1971. Pop Art Et Cie.
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Fig. 3: The reverse of left screen
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porting the reverse of severe creas
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Paper Conservation: Decisions & Compromises

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