The manuscript is one of the finest works in the unique style of Hiberno-Saxon or Insular art, combining Mediterranean, Anglo-Saxon and Celtic elements.
The Lindisfarne Gospels (London, British Library Cotton MS Nero D.IV) is an illuminated manuscript gospel book probably produced around the years 715–720 in the monastery at Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, which is now in the British Library in London. In addition to assisting libraries and museums that have already experienced a disaster, Polygon helps these institutions prepare by cataloging delicate documents noting insurance carriers and taking other steps to ensure fast effective document restoration.Folio 27r from the Lindisfarne Gospels contains the incipit from the Gospel of Matthew. Unlike many business disaster recovery companies, we are equipped to provide both vacuum freeze-drying (best for pulp-based paper) and desiccant drying (best for vellum and parchment). Libraries and museums rely on our document restoration services to repair sensitive, significant documents. The business disaster recovery experts at Polygon provide top-of-the-line parchment and vellum repair. Vacuum freeze-drying should be avoided. Parchment will not stand up to this repair method.Īvoid using a starch paste, which creates a humidity imbalance and changes the structure of nearby parchment or vellum. Don’ts for Repairing Vellum and Parchment Suction tables are often used for infilling as well. Ragged edges and holes may be “infilled” with ground-up animal hide, silk cloth, or Japanese paper inserts.
Replacing missing areas, or infilling. This most extreme form of parchment and vellum damage is also the trickiest to repair.
OLD MANUSCRIPTS VELLUM PROFESSIONAL
Next, the business disaster recovery professional would pull on either side of the crease to gently flatten it by hand. When only one or two creases must be removed, and isopropyl alcohol mixture may be applied with a cotton swab directly to creases. An even safer method is to flatten the document by hand and then attach it to a suction table with polyester strips, which are easy to remove once the document has dried. Once the document has been thoroughly moistened, clips may be used to stretch it out. Today, gelatin or other animal-based products are often used to mend tears in parchment and vellum.įlattening curls and creases. If the entire document requires flattening, document restoration experts may choose to place the document in a humidity chamber. Repairing tears. Traditionally, vellum and parchment document restoration involved hand stitching any tears.
Parchment and Vellum RepairĪlthough writers in the Middle Ages praised parchment and vellum as capable of lasting a thousand years, damage sometimes occurred.
The United States Constitution is written on parchment, for instance. These materials were known to be durable, so they were reserved for the most important documents.
OLD MANUSCRIPTS VELLUM SKIN
Business disaster recovery companies must be cognizant of these properties when providing parchment and vellum document restoration, as explained below.īoth parchment and vellum are prepared by removing skin from hair stretching skin against a frame and alternating between scraping, wetting, and drying to create a smooth, durable writing surface. This means parchment often reacts to changes in humidity and is not waterproof. Leather is tanned and limed, while parchment is just limed. Some steps in leather and parchment/vellum preparation are the same (removing hair, for instance), while others are unique. (Calf in Latin is vitulus.) Just as calfskin leather is categorized as a superior form of leather, vellum is the highest quality of parchment. Parchment was originally any animal skin that had been readied for writing, while vellum referred specifically to “paper” made from calfskin. Most people have heard the terms vellum and parchment, but few know that these writing surfaces were originally made of animal skin.
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