ข้อความเว็บเพจ
23OCTOBER20150
THE FIX: HIDDEN MANUSCRIPTS
BY JENNIFER JARVIS« PREVIOUSThe conservation of special collections materials is rarely a straightforward endeavor. It’s important to treat each item as a unique object, and to let its particular history and condition drive the decision-making process. Often, the path forward is only revealed once treatment begins, as the conservator becomes more and more familiar with the book, sometimes through research and analysis, but often simply by observing and handling the book over a period of time. One of the title pages from Les Observations Recently, I have been treating a book that was adopted for preservation from the Joseph F. Cullman 3rdLibrary of Natural History, Les observations de plusieurs singularitez et choses memorables trouvées en Grèce, Asie, Judée, Egypte, Arabie et autres pays étrangèrs, by Pierre Belon (1517-1564), published in 1554. Pierre Belon portrait from A la memoire de Pierre Belon, du Mans, 1517-1564., via the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Belon, originally trained as an apothecary, was a French naturalist, and the work describes his travels in the eastern Mediterranean in the years 1546-48. He records, in words and woodcut illustrations, numerous animals and plants, many never before seen by Western readers, as well as the customs and culture of the peoples he encountered. This work, as well as others by Belon, remained popular well into the 17thcentury. Hand-colored woodcut illustrations in Les observations Printed in Paris, Les observationsretains its original binding, a structure commonly referred to as “limp vellum”*. It has no rigid covers, but is simply constructed from a single piece of animal skin parchment, which has been skillfully cut and folded to accurately fit the book. This style of binding encompasses a wide range of subtle variation in form and design, from the very plain to the highly decorated, and harkens back to earlier, medieval bindings associated with ledgers and other archival structures. It was extremely popular throughout Europe for several hundred years beginning in the early 16th century, probably owing to its durability and relatively quick construction. Both of these aspects are in part attributable to the lack of adhesive used; the binding is attached to the text simply by lacing the sewing support slips through holes or slits that have been pierced in the parchment. Perhaps because of their often humble appearance however, these bindings have not often survived into the present day; historically, wealthy buyers may have wished to furnish their books with more expensive bindings, and modern-day collectors and institutions have tended to prefer bindings with rigid covers. Left: front cover of Les observations. Right:example of a sewing slip which would have been used to attach the book to its cover The binding on our copy of Les observations could accurately be described as vellum; it is a smooth, heavyweight calfskin that originally would have been a golden yellow. The book was sewn on four split alum-tawed leather supports with a herringbone stitch, and had 2-color primary silk endbands; if you aren’t familiar with this terminology, these are all indications of a book which was sewn without many compromises in terms of quality, and therefore time and expense. It is this level of craftsmanship which has allowed it to survive in its original condition for so long. Left: detail of sewing structure. Right: detail of endband. This copy has an additional, completely unique, feature: the inside of both sides of the cover are filled with Arabic handwriting in black ink, which the adoption catalogue describes as an instance of recycling old manuscript waste (a common practice among bookbinders).Arabic manuscript waste? When it arrived in the Book Conservation Lab, Les observationspresented a number of preservation concerns. The book had become completely separated from its binding, owing principally to breaks in the sewing support slips. The sewing structure itself appeared weak in several places, with some sections loose from breaks in the sewing thread. There was some damage to the paper, especially at the beginning and end of the text, and the title page (not original to the text, but a later, handwritten copy) had been previously repaired with a now brittle tissue. Damage to spine At first glance, an obvious direction for treatment might be to take the book apart completely, re-sew and rebind it in a new binding, saving the original for future reference. As I examined the book more closely, however, I came to feel that the sewing structure was not only largely intact, but actually robust, and worth preserving. I also observed that the Arabic script on the inside cover was not recycled manuscript waste, but was clearly written sometime after the book was bound. This is important because while manuscript waste in bindings generally bears no relation to the text (except when trying to relate place of printing to place of binding), annotations made after binding can help scholars track readers’ response to the text, as well as provide evidence of provenance. Hopefully someone will translate these annotations one day!These observations, which only came to me after spending considerable time examining the book and its binding, led me to a more conservative approach to treatment. Instead of removing the original sewing, I repaired the damage by re-sewing the loose sections with lengths of new linen thread. I gently re-shaped the spine and reinforced my repairs with new spine linings of a medium-weight Japanese paper. Finally, I reattached the parchment cover to the book, using lengths of new parchment, laced through the book and the original holes of the cover. This will prevent the annotations becoming separated from the book. As with many treatment methodologies aimed at special collections materials, this more conservative approach ended up requiring more time and skill than simply disbinding and rebinding, but this flexibility helps ensure that objects receive the quality of care befitting their historic status.Repair of sewing structure and re-shaping of spine.Spine after treatment, showing reattachment of cover. *though some scholars in the field point out the imprecision of this term, since vellum technically refers to finer quality calfskin parchment only(see http://www.ligatus.org.uk/lob/search?search_api_views_fulltext=vellum) Adopt A Book, American Museum of Natural History, Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History, preservation, Leave a Reply
Enter the letters shown above*FOLLOW US LATEST TWEETSCATEGORIESCategories Select Category Advancement and Development Art and Design Biodiversity Heritage Library Collection Highlights Conference Notes Digitization Discovery Services Education and Outreach Events Exhibitions Food and Drink From the Director History and Culture Holidays and Special Occasions homepage Intern and Volunteer Updates Library Hacks Natural and Physical Sciences New and Notable Research Special Collections Staff Notes The Fix (Preservation) Trade Literature Uncategorized Web News World’s Fair materials ARCHIVESArchives Select Month October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 December 2007 Contacts | Terms of Use | Permissions |Privacy | Smithsonian Libraries Website
สลับภาษาต้นทางและภาษาปลายทาง
แปล
ผลลัพธ์ (ภาษาไทย) 1:
23OCTOBER20150
การแก้ไข: เป็นซ่อน
โดยจาร์วิสเจนนิเฟอร์ «PREVIOUSThe อนุรักษ์วัสดุวิทยาศาสตร์ได้ไม่ค่อยแข่งขันตรงไปตรงมา เป็นสิ่งสำคัญใน การรักษาแต่ละรายการเป็นวัตถุเฉพาะ และ เพื่อให้เป็นประวัติศาสตร์เฉพาะและไดรฟ์เงื่อนไขการตัดสินใจ มักจะ เส้นทางข้างหน้าเป็นเฉพาะเปิดเผยเมื่อเริ่มการรักษา เป็นที่ระบายความร้อนจะมากคุ้นเคยกับหนังสือ บางครั้งผ่านการวิจัยและวิเคราะห์ แต่มักก็ โดยการสังเกต และจัดการหนังสือระยะเวลา ชื่อเรื่องหนึ่งหน้าจากเลสสังเกตเมื่อเร็ว ๆ นี้ ฉันได้รับการรักษาถูกนำมาใช้เพื่ออนุรักษ์จาก 3rdLibrary โจเซฟเอฟ Cullman ของประวัติ เลสสังเกต de plusieurs singularitez et choses memorables trouvées en Grèce, Asie, Judée, Egypte, Arabie et autres จ่าย étrangèrs