Using computed tomography to recover hidden medieval fragments beneath early modern leather bindings, first results
-
Published:2023-04-24
Issue:1
Volume:11
Page:
-
ISSN:2050-7445
-
Container-title:Heritage Science
-
language:en
-
Short-container-title:Herit Sci
Author:
Ensley J. Eric,Tachau Katherine H.,Walsh Susan A.,Zhang Honghai,Simon Giselle,Moser Laura,Atha Jarron,Dilley Paul,Hoffman Eric A.,Sonka Milan
Abstract
AbstractMedieval bindings fragments have become increasingly interesting to Humanities researchers as sources for the textual and material history of medieval Europeans. Later book binders used these discarded and repurposed pieces of earlier medieval manuscripts to reinforce the structures of other manuscripts and printed books. That many of these fragments are contained within and obscured by decorative bindings that cannot be dismantled ethically has limited their discovery and description. Although previous attempts to recover these texts using IRT and MA-XRF scanning have been successful, the extensive time required to scan a single book, and the need to modify or create specialized IRT or MA-XRF equipment for this method are drawbacks. Our research proposes and tests the capabilities of medical CT scanning technologies (commonly available at research university medical schools) for making visible and legible these fragments hidden under leather bindings. Our research team identified three sixteenth-century printed codices in our university libraries that were evidently bound in tawed leather by one workshop. The damaged cover of one of these three had revealed medieval manuscript fragments on the book spine; this codex served as a control for testing the other two volumes to see if they, too, contain fragments. The use of a medical CT scanner proved successful in visualizing interior book-spine structures and some letterforms, but not all of the text was made visible. The partial success of CT-scanning points to the value of further experimentation, given the relatively wide availability of medical imaging technologies, with their potential for short, non-destructive, 3D imaging times.
Funder
Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, University of Iowa
National Institutes of Health
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Archeology,Archeology,Conservation,Computer Science Applications,Materials Science (miscellaneous),Chemistry (miscellaneous),Spectroscopy
Reference43 articles.
1. Hadgraft N. English Fifteenth Century Book Structures. Ph.D. dissertation, University of London; 2016: 66–68.
2. Watson R. Medieval Manuscript Fragments 1977;13(58):61–73.
3. Davis LD. An Echo of the Remanent. Florilegium. 2018;35:5–30.
4. Ker NR. Introduction, in Ker NR. Pastedowns in Oxford Bindings with a survey of Oxford bindings 1515–1620. Oxford: Oxford Bibliographical Society Publications n.s. 1954; 5: vii-xvii. Also available at https://www.lostmss.org.uk/kers-introduction-1954 Accessed 03 Dec 2022.
5. Gibson S. Early Oxford Bindings. Oxford: Bibliographical Society; 1903.