14r) shows that, in this case at least, most of this user-deposited dirt appears in the lower outer corner of each folio ( fig. A recto leaf from a prayer book made in the eastern Netherlands (Luik, Universiteitsbibliotheek, Ms. Quantifying Fingerprintsĭiscoloration due to wear is identifiable as such. These are discussed as a series of case studies below. The results reveal how a given reader handled his book, which sections of a book he handled, and which he ignored. The densitometer has allowed me to objectively measure the wear, which is positively correlated to the darkening of the vellum (or paper) manuscript support. My contribution to this discussion of reader response is to quantify this wear using a densitometer, an apparatus that measures the darkness of a reflecting surface. The more intensely a reader used a given section of the book, the more intensely discolored those folios are. Users employed thread and glue to affix devotional objects to their books, and fingerprints and dirt darkened the page as the user ground it into the fibers of the vellum. I then consider how material was often inadvertently added to manuscripts through handling. I first consider how images were abraded through devotional kissing and rubbing that was directed at a particular image, or even a particular area of an image, or occasionally directed at a text. These examples reveal how medieval people interacted with their books and reveal something of their habits and expectations, and ultimately, an aspect of medieval readers’ emotional lives. Taking as my premise the idea that missals reveal habits of wear and use, in this article I bring together other manuscripts-especially prayer books-that have been rubbed and handled. The priest in Haarlem who used this missal kissed the osculation plaque some of the time, but his lips also crept upward, onto the frame of the miniature, onto the ground below the cross, up the shaft of the cross, occasionally kissing the feet of Christ. This plaque is designed to bear the wear and tear of the priest’s repeated kisses, for illuminators realized that priests would damage their paintings if they could not deflect the lips elsewhere ( fig. In the Missal of the Haarlem Linen Weavers’ Guild, made in Utrecht in the first decade of the fifteenth century, the illuminators provided an osculation plaque at the bottom of the full-page miniature depicting the Crucifixion. A priest would repeatedly kiss the canon page of his missal, depositing secretions from his lips, nose, and forehead onto the page. One of the most obvious ways in which a category of manuscripts-missals-carries signs of use is the damage often found in the opening of the canon of the mass. Īlthough it is often difficult to study the habits, private rituals, and emotional states of people who lived in the medieval past, medieval manuscripts carry signs of use and wear on their very surfaces that provide records of some of these elusive phenomena. 184 C 2 (Photo: Byvanck archive artwork in the public domain). 1400-10, tempera and gold on vellum, 349 x 270 (265 x 179) mm, 2 columns, 32 lines, littera textualis, Latin. Missal of the Haarlem Linen Weavers Guild, North Holland (Haarlem?), ca. 149v), showing damage where the priest repeatedly kissed it. We are pleased to learn of the Portland State community’s interest in rare book preservation! We welcome you to view the Book of Hours on display in the Library through mid-July.Fig. Please see “Misperceptions about White Gloves” in International Preservations News for more information. And gloves often carry far more dirt than clean hands. Indeed, as conservators write in International Preservation News, the recommendation to use gloves is a dangerous and “pervasive myth” that may result in the tearing of pages. Aside from those specific situations, it is generally preferable to handle your books with clean hands, washed with soap and thoroughly dried, rather than with gloves.” Clean gloves (nitrile, vinyl, or lint-free cotton) are also recommended when handling photograph albums/photographs or books with metal or ivory parts. Gloves (nitrile or vinyl) are always recommended if there is reason to suspect a health hazard (e.g., mold, arsenic). “Before handling any collection item, thoroughly wash and dry hands. Contrary to widespread belief, gloves are not necessarily recommended to handle rare or valuable books. Specifically, the Library of Congress recommends the following: Portland State University Library Special Collections follows their advice to handle most rare and valuable books with clean, dry hands.” “According to the Library of Congress, wearing gloves while handling antiquarian books may do more harm than good.
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