Klosterneuburg
The Craft of Parchment 29-31 August 2023
Program
Sponsored by ABC* and B2C
*ABC is a heritage science project focuses on mediaeval manuscripts and incunabula at the Library of the Augustinian Canons in Klosterneuburg and the National and University Library in Ljubljana. These are the largest medieval libraries in Austria and Slovenia. In terms of materiality, bindings are often made of leather and the writing support is paper or parchment. While codicological dating methods are often applied with success, the required historical and material evidence is often unavailable. For this reason, infrared (IR) spectroscopy-based dating tools using the molecular decay (MD)-dating, as recently introduced, need to be developed for mediaeval manuscripts and incunabula. The project will establish dating tools for leather, paper and parchment based on MD-dating. These dating tools will be evaluated, validated, and applied on objects with unknown history.
We meet in the room marked Q
Tuesday 29th August
Location: Conference Room “Sambucus” at “Quartier 1114”
9:00 – 9:30 Welcome/Coffee Arrival of participants & registration
9:30 – 10:00 Opening speeches (representatives of Abbey’s Research Center, the B2C and ABC project )
10:00 – 11:00 Jiří Vnouček & David Frank General description of the parchment making process
1) Introduction to practical parchment making (JV)
2) Shaving and surface treatment of calfskins for writing purposes (DF)
3) How were the very skins prepared and treated for the workshop beforehand: their sizes, preservation, salting, liming etc. Including safety and health instructions for the participants (JV)
11:00- 11:30 Coffee/ Drinks
11:30 – 12:00 Matthew Collins Animal skin as a biological record, biocodicology of parchment
12:00 - 12:30 Aurélie Artizzu Proteomic analyzes of the archives of Morimond Abbey (12th - 15th centuries): temporal evolution of the use of parchment species
Location: Geschirrhof
13:30- 17:00 Jiří Vnouček & David Frank Practical parchment making 1
1) Dehairing of goat and sheepskins, washing and stretching on frames (JV)
2) Shaving and surface treatment of calfskins for writing purposes (DF)
(There will be some extra fresh skins & frames available so participants can get their own experience with parchment-making. Protective glasses, gloves, good shoes and aprons are necessary!)
Free evening
Wednesday 30th August
Location: Klosterneuburg Abbey Library, Kuppelsaal
9:00- 9:30 Sarah Deichstetter Presentation of manuscripts - historical facts reg. the Klbg library & scriptorium
9:30- 10:00 Maria Theisen Presentation of manuscripts - dating medieval leather covers / together with Jiří Vnouček: Visual observation of parchment
10:00- 11:00 Viviana Elisa Nicoletti Presentation of manuscripts - parchments and traces of restauration / together with Jiří Vnouček: Visual observation of parchment
11:00- 12:00 Johannes Tintner-Olifiers Patrick Layton Presentation of manuscripts - FTIR-measurements / together with Jiří Vnouček: Visual observation of parchment
Location: Geschirrhof
13:30 - 16:30 Jiří Vnouček & David Frank Practical parchment making 2
1) Stretching of kid goat and lamb skins (JV)
2) Finishing of dry goat and sheep parchment (DF)
(There will be some extra fresh skins & frames available so participants can get their own experience with parchment-making. Protective glasses, gloves, good shoes and aprons are necessary!)
Thursday 31st August
Location: Conference Room “Sambucus” at “Quartier 1114”
9:00- 9:30 Hend Mahgoub: NIR Methods for Dating of Organic Heritage Materials – A Review
9:30- 10:00 Anna Catarina Pinheiro: Microbiology of Parchment and Associated Deterioration
10:00- 10:30 Elena Badea: Parchment longevity: interplay between workmanship and conservation
10:30- 11:00 Coffee
11:00- 11:30 Madison Bennett: The Art of Parchment
11:30- 11:45 Jana Srnková: From the scribe to parchment maker
1:45- 12:15 Antonia Malissa: A Spectrum is Worth a Thousand Words – Early Characterization of Parchment Degradation by Spectroscopy
12:15- 12:45 Marc Fourneau: Histology of Parchment
Location: Conference Room “Sambucus” at “Quartier 1114”
13:45– 14:30 Jiří Vnouček Changes in parchment-making during one millennium
14:30- 15:00 Joanna Story Insular or Continental origin? Discussion about different types of parchment
15:00- 16:00 Observation of produced parchment, sharing new experiences. Closing remarks, evaluation of the workshop