BPG Parchment Condition Problems

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This page covers the condition issues that occur on parchment. See also: BPG Parchment, BPG Parchment Examination and Documentation, BPG Parchment Conservation Treatment, BPG Parchment Housing and Storage, and BPG Parchment Parchment Historic Treatment Methods and Materials. 
Wiki Compiler: Cathie Magee
Wiki Contributors: your name could be here
== Parchment Support Condition Problems ==
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=== Evidence of Use ===
==== Accretions ====
==== Abrasions ====
==== Stains ====
==== Surface grime ====
Surface grime comes in different forms. Books acquire so-called historic grime from use, generally appearing at the bottom corners of folios from the turning of pages by hand. These marks, likely the buildup of oils from skin and subsequent staining of the substrate, are important signs of the history of a book's use. Conservators generally do not attempt to remove these. Art historian Kathryn Rudy (2010) has attempted to quantify the accumulation of grime on manuscript folios by using a densitometer and correlate those values with the social value of certain folios.
More modern accumulations of dust and dirt are thought of as "museum grime" from days when objects were stored in more open conditions. These tend to be loose and can transfer to work surfaces, collection objects, or skin making contact. It is generally more acceptable to remove modern grime from parchment objects with dry cleaning. However, questions remain on whether removal of any grime may result in the removal of important evidence of the history of a book's location, such as from pollen samples. 
==== Excisions ====
==== Page tabs ====
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=== Insect Damage ===
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=== Tears ===
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=== Delamination ===
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=== Water Damage ===
==== Planar distortion from high RH ====
==== Shrinkage ====
==== Mold ====
(See also BPG Mold)
Mold removal should be carried out before any other treatment step to prevent further contamination. It is especially important that it precede consolidation, humidification, or flattening, because these treatments will make the removal of mold growth more difficult or impossible. Mold-damaged parchment is subject to mold reactivation if it is left in a humidity chamber or damp pack too long. [top]
=== Parchment Book Block Problems ===
==== Adhesive on spine ====
==== Abrasion from loose quires ====
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=== Previous Repair Efforts ===
==== Excessively large patches ====
==== Sewn repairs ====
==== Tape ====
[Copied from original BPG Parchment] Original Repairs, Compensation and Joins
Original repairs and compensation are usually absent in fine art on parchment (i.e., paintings, drawings and prints) because the artist only needed a single sheet for his work and was therefore able to choose one of very high quality. On the other hand, many sheets of parchment were required for a manuscript book, rolled document or large map or architectural plan. Although the craftsman might have preferred to have the skins all of fine quality, his choice was often limited to what was available or by the amount of money he was able to pay for good skins. In general, folio size manuscript books (and, by association, their detached leaves) tend to have a greater number of original repairs than much smaller manuscripts of the same type.
* Sewn Repairs
:: Repairs to parchment were often done while the skin was still wet or damp, before it was dried on the frame. These types of repairs, sewn in a figure of eight pattern across the damaged area, can be recognized by the bunching up of the damp skin and the pulling on the sewing holes that would occur as the skin dried under tension (Clarkson 1992, Figs. 22, 23, 36, 37). Sewn repairs in dry skins were also carried out by the parchment maker or by the scribe at a later stage and would tend to look quite different, with the sewing holes still circular in shape and not extended (Clarkson 1992, Fig. 38). In both cases these repairs were most often done with linen thread, but sometimes silk thread or narrow strips of parchment were also employed. In cases where the available parchment sheet was of an irregular shape, due to its having been cut along the outer perimeter of the full skin, additional pieces would be attached to compensate for the irregularity. These pieces were usually secured by sewing with thread or parchment thongs. Sewing was also a common technique for the joining of multiple pieces of parchment to form a scroll. Both thread and a type of sinew or gut (in the case of Hebrew manuscripts) were used as sewing materials. (Certain types of medieval parchment documents made in scroll form often had textile or leather covers sewn onto the upper end. When the document was rolled up these covers would protect the object from damage during storage or transport.)
* Patched Repairs
:: Patched repairs usually were carried out with a similar if not identical type of parchment as the original. Contemporary patches of transparent goldbeater's skin are much less common than parchment repairs although they have been recorded in some early manuscripts such as the 6th century Vienna Dioscurides (Wächter 1962, p.25). Original patches usually cover small holes that developed during the manufacturing process; it is assumed that they were attached with a collagen-based adhesive such as parchment size. Although these repairs could be performed by the parchment maker on the finished sheet, once it was removed from the frame, they were more likely to have been executed in the scribal workshop. In many cases final preparation of the surface (pumicing, chalking) would be done after the repairs were completed, thus making the scarfed joins that much more invisible (Clarkson 1992, Figs. 33, 34).
* Fills or Compensation
:: Larger pieces of parchment are sometimes used to compensate for the irregular edge of a given sheet. These patches or “fills” are applied in the same manner as smaller patched repairs, by scarfing the overlapped areas and attaching the parchment piece with adhesive. Multiple pieces of parchment would often be joined to make one very large sheet, to be used for an architectural drawing or garden plan, or for a rolled document. These pieces of parchment were connected with overlapped adhesive joins which, although perfectly functional, would not always be as precisely executed as patches or joins found in medieval manuscripts
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== Media Condition Problems ==
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=== Pigment ===
==== Abrasion (relics of touch) ====
==== Flaking ====
Szirmai 2017, 124. importance of correct binding structure
==== Previous consolidation efforts ====
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==== Staining ====
(lead white, copper green, silver, brass)
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=== Iron Gall Ink ===
==== Corrosion/dropout ====
==== Flaking ink ====
==== Fading, efforts to reverse ink fading ====
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== References ==
Non-Threatening Evidence of Use
Rudy, Kathryn. 2010. "Dirty Books: Quantifying Patterns of Use in Medieval Manuscripts Using a Densitometer." Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 2 (1-2).
Media Condition Problems
Pigment
Szirmai, J. A. 2017. "Conservation Bindings: Part 1 – Wooden Board Bindings." Journal of Paper Conservation 18 (4): 123–33.
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==Bibliography==
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==History of This Page==
This page was created in April 2022 when the Parchment page was updated.
Category:Book & PaperCategory:Parchment