Book conservator Cathie Magee led a week- long workshop on common parchment conservation techniques. Interns had the opportunity to work on an ongoing project at the Library of Congress to digitize a collection of medieval parchment fragments that were incorporated into later book bindings. Hundreds of these fragments were retained by the library for further research. In addition to digitization, the goal for this project is to stabilize the parchment for safe handling by future researchers. 

 

Before treatment, the parchment fragments were visually examined to determine condition issues and then photographed. Photographing the objects under normal light allowed the interns to note areas of missing parchment as well as dirt and grime on the surface. Images were also taken under raking light to better see the folds and wrinkles across the parchment surface. Once the fragments were back in the lab, the interns surface cleaned the parchment using soft brushes and cosmetic sponges. Extra care was taken around damaged areas. 

 

After surface cleaning, all manuscript inks were tested for solubility in water in preparation for humidification. The inks proved to be stable. The addition of moisture through humidification was an important step in relaxing the parchment enough to be able to minimize folds and flatten wrinkles. Some fragments were humidified overall, while other fragments only needed local humidification.

 

Overall humidification was done using a humidification chamber, for fragments that had folds and wrinkles throughout. Local humidification was done using water applied with a small brush and weights. For both methods, the parchment was gently stretched using magnets, binder clips, and weight to flatten the surface. Following humidification, different mending techniques were used on areas that had tears or losses. Using materials specific to parchment conservation, interns gained insight on different adhesives and their properties (gelatin liquid and gelatin mousse, methyl cellulose, and wheat starch paste) and had the opportunity to test different fill materials for losses, such as alum tawed gold beaters skin and long fibered asian tissues.