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The methodology used for dewatering the vellum from the Faddan More Psalter

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 35; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/19455224.2012.744678

1945-5232

John Gillis,

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Abstract The Faddan More Psalter is an early medieval vellum manuscript discovered in a peat bog in County Tipperary, Ireland in 2006. This paper focuses on a single aspect of its conservation: the dewatering of the saturated vellum text block, a process commonly used to remove excess water and debris from archaeological finds. The surviving vellum fragments had remained saturated for over a millennium in a very wet environment. No vellum of the same antiquity is known to have been conserved from these extreme conditions. As a result, new systems had to be developed and tested in order to find a successful approach to allow this unique manuscript to be conserved. The task was further complicated by the lack of comparable test material available. Résumé «Méthodologie employée pour l'assèchement du vélin du Psautier de Faddan More» Le Psautier de Faddan More est un manuscrit du Haut Moyen-Age découvert en 2006 dans une tourbière du comté de Tipperary en Irlande. Cet article se concentre sur un seul aspect de sa conservation: l'assèchement du corps d'ouvrage en vélin saturé d'eau, un processus fréquemment employé pour retirer l'excès d'eau et les débris des découvertes archéologiques. Les fragments de parchemin subsistant sont restés imbibés pendant plus d'un millénaire dans un environnement très humide. On ne connaît aucun parchemin aussi ancien ayant été conservé dans des conditions aussi extrêmes. Par conséquent, un système original a dû être élaboré et testé pour trouver une approche efficace permettant la préservation de ce manuscrit unique. En outre, la tache fut compliquée par le manque de matériau test comparable. Zusammenfassung ,,Der Faddan More Psalter: Entwässerungsmethode des Pergamentes" Der Faddan More Psalter ist eine frühmittelalterliche Handschrift auf Pergament, die im Jahr 2006 in County Tipperary, Irland, in einem Torfmoor gefunden wurde. Dieser Artikel konzentriert sich auf einen einzigen Aspekt seiner Behandlung: das Entwässern des Buchblockes aus Pergament. Das ist ein Prozess, der häufig bei archäologischen Fundstücken angewandt wird, um Wasser und grobe Verschmutzungen zu entfernen. Die erhaltenen durchnässten Pergamentstücke haben sich fast ein Jahrtausend lang in einer sehr nassen Umgebung befunden. Es ist nicht bekannt, dass je ein Stück Pergament ähnlichen Alters aus solch extremen Umständen konserviert worden ist. Deshalb mussten neue Systeme entwickelt und getestet werden, um eine brauchbare Angehensweise für die Konservierung/Restaurierung dieser einzigartigen Handschrift festzulegen. Fehlende Vergleichsmöglichkeiten durch entsprechendes Testmaterial erhöhten die Komplexität der Arbeit zusätzlich. Resumen "Procedimiento usado para eliminar el agua en la vitela del Salterio Faddan More" El Salterio Faddan More es un manuscrito sobre vitela de principios del medioevo, encontrado en 2006 en un pantano cenagoso en el estado de Tipperary, Irlanda. Este análisis esta centrado en un único aspecto de su conservación: la eliminación del exceso de agua en la vitela del cuerpo del libro; un proceso usualmente utilizado para remover el exceso de agua de restos arqueológicos. En esas condiciones de humedad extrema, los fragmentos de vitela se mantuvieron completamente saturados durante más de mil años. No se conoce ninguna vitela tan antigua que haya sido conservada bajo esas condiciones extremas. Como resultado se han tenido que probar y desarrollar nuevos sistemas para encontrar un enfoque adecuado que permitiera la conservación de este manuscrito único. La tarea fue bastante complicada al no contarse con ejemplos comparables. Acknowledgements Robin Adams, Librarian at Trinity College Dublin for support throughout the project; my colleagues in the Conservation Department, Trinity College for their encouragement; Dr Bernard Meehan, Trinity College, who guided me through my early attempts to decipher the writing; Christopher Clarkson and Michael Gullick, whose visits ensured I was still heading in the right direction; my colleagues and friends in the National Museum of Ireland, particularly Dr Paul Mullarkey and Patrick Boyle; Dr Pat Wallace Director of the National Museum, Rolly Read, Raghnall O Floinn, Eamonn Kelly and Maeve Sikora also of the National Museum; René Larsen, Dorte Sommer and Natasha Fazlic for permission to reproduce portions of their analytical report in this article. Although I was the 'bench conservator' for the Psalter, the only reason I was able to bring the project to its current level of completion was the support and advice that was available to me at a moment's notice. The generosity of my fellow conservators in the NMI was a resource I accessed often over the four years and there is little doubt both the Faddan More Psalter and I are the better for it. Notes 1 National Museum of Ireland, 'Ten Major Pieces', http://www.museum.ie/en/exhibition/list/ten-major-pieces.aspx?article=220bc4b8-914b-4972-867f-47ca900ffea5 (accessed August 25, 2012). 2 Insular literally means 'of or pertaining to an island or islands' and, in this context, refers to Irish or British art from the post-Roman period. See D. Diringer, The Book Before Printing: Ancient, Medieval and Oriental (New York: Dover Publications, 1982), 215. 3 Bernhard Bischoff, Latin Palaeography: Antiquity and the Middle Ages (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), 20–3. 4 Early Coptic bindings have a limp single piece of leather with internal linings with a flap on one fore edge extending on to the front of the cover. The majority contain single quire codices attached directly to the cover through the spine. 5 Tackets are used as a temporary method of keeping the bifolia of a quire together prior to binding. They often take the form of vegetable fibres or twists of vellum inserted through the backfold, which sometimes remain even after binding has taken place. 6 Particular thanks are due to Chris Clarkson, Tony Cains, and Michael Gullick for their valued observations and contribution in helping to move this project forward. 7 Filming involved the use of an articulated stage and a high-resolution camera on a track positioned over the subject. 8 Eric F. Hansen, Steve N. Lee, and Harry Sobel, 'The Effects of Relative Humidity on Some Physical Properties of Modern Vellum: Implications for the Optimum Relative Humidity for the Display and Storage of Parchment', Book and Paper Group Annual 10 (1991), http://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v10/bp10-09.html (accessed September 15, 2012). 'In addition to chain-breaking of a macromolecule by hydrolysis resulting in a decrease in molecular weight, another mode of protein degradation can occur through denaturation. In the case of collagen, this is by interaction with water and is designated gelatinization.' 9 The aim of the IDAP project is to assess damage in historical parchments at the macro, microscopic and molecular levels. 10 The description of these analyses and the discussion of results in this article are based closely on the resulting report: René Larsen, Dorte V.P. Sommer, and Natasha Fazlic, Analyses of Samples from the Irish Psalter, analytical report (Copenhagen: School of Conservation, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, 2007). 11 Larsen, Sommer, and Fazlic, Analyses of Samples, 6. 13 See René Larsen, Dorte Vestergaard Poulsen Sommer, Marie Vest, and Arne L. Jensen, 'Amino Acid Analysis of New and Historical Parchments', in Microanalysis of Parchment, ed. R. Larsen (London: Archetype Publications, 2002), 93–9. 14 A term employed to describe the disbinding of a book or manuscript. 15 Terence J. Painter, 'Lindow Man, Tollund Man and Other Peat-Bog Bodies: The Preservative and Antimicrobial Action of Sphagnan, a Reactive Glycuronoglycan with Tanning and Sequestering Properties', Carbohydrate Polymers 15, no. 2 (1991): 123–42. 16 Rene Larsen, Dorte Vestergaard Poulsen, and Marie Vest, 'The Hydrothermal Stability of Parchment Measured by the Micro Hot Table Method', in Microanalysis of Parchment (see note 13), 55–62. 17 John Gillis and Anthony Read, 'The Faddan More Psalter', Icon News 11 (2007): 25–8. 18 The use of a vacuum machine was suggested by conservator Chris Clarkson, who had already discussed the possibilities of drying parchment with Stuart Welch, formerly of Conservation by Design. The latter had established the vacuum machine as a conservation tool, particularly in the area of disaster recovery, and he organized the loan of a vacuum machine for these trials. 19 See, for example, J. Plenderleith, The Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 136. 21 Natural Color System, Color Atlas, 3rd ed., Swedish Standard SS019102 (Stockholm: SIS, 1996). 20 Rene Larsen, 'Improved Damage Assessment of Parchment', in Care and Conservation of Manuscripts 7, ed. Gillian Fellows-Jensen and Peter Springborg (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2003), 27–36. 22 At the time of treatment, these were 55% RH and 20°C in an air-conditioned room.