Methods of Aqueous Treatments: The Last Resort for Badly Damaged Iron Gall Ink Manuscripts

Abstract

The calcium phytate treatment has given rise to intensive research. Despite its efficiency largely having being demonstrated, this treatment is not used on badly damaged manuscripts mainly because water is used as a solvent. Indeed, exposing badly damaged paper to aqueous solutions is paired with a substantial risk of causing additional splits and losses, which has so far hindered the use of calcium phytate on the most vulnerable manuscripts. This work investigates ways of manipulating badly damaged manuscripts during aqueous treatments. It was first tried out on test samples then originals. The results showed that mechanical risk is greatly minimized when the treatment is performed by flotation and with specific handling and drying precautions