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Abstract This work presents the results of a transdisciplinary analysis performed on Harward’s Almanac (Dublin, 1666), an extremely rare volume currently housed in the National Library of Ireland. The uniqueness and historical value of the Almanac is related to the presence of nineteen handwritten poems, entered by an anonymous scribe. These record textually important English clandestine satire circulating anonymously in Dublin in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Following a comprehensive historical assessment, it appeared evident that the current order of leaves was incorrect. To reconstruct the correct order of the leaves, and hence the likely sequence in which the manuscript poems were inscribed, this study employed a codicological/paleographic analysis complemented by analytical (X-ray fluorescence, XRF) and statistical (Self Organizing Map, SOM) investigation. Specifically, point XRF analysis was carried out for each handwritten page of the Almanac, allowing identification of ink elemental compositions (iron-based ink) and successfully supporting the validity of historical hypotheses on the poems’ order of inscription. The statistical organization of XRF data by SOMs allowed easy bi-dimensional visualization of the data set (54 points) and identification of ink similarities, once more validating the historical assessment.

This work presents the results of a transdisciplinary analysis performed on Harward's Almanac (Dublin, 1666), an extremely rare volume currently housed in the National Library of Ireland. The uniqueness and historical value of the Almanac is related to the presence of nineteen handwritten poems, entered by an anonymous scribe. These record textually important English clandestine satire circulating anonymously in Dublin in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Following a comprehensive historical assessment, it appeared evident that the current order of leaves was incorrect. To reconstruct the correct order of the leaves, and hence the likely sequence in which the manuscript poems were inscribed, this study employed a codicological/paleographic analysis complemented by analytical (X-ray fluorescence, XRF) and statistical (Self Organizing Map, SOM) investigation. Specifically, point XRF analysis was carried out for each handwritten page of the Almanac, allowing identification of ink elemental compositions (iron-based ink) and successfully supporting the validity of historical hypotheses on the poems' order of inscription. The statistical organization of XRF data by SOMs allowed easy bi-dimensional visualization of the data set (54 points) and identification of ink similarities, once more validating the historical assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the paper of Dagestan Arabic manuscripts and epistolary documents of the 19th — early 20th centuries, as an important aspect of source study. This work allows you to get an idea of the history of Russia’s cultural and economic ties with Dagestan and the countries of the East. In the course of the study, a comparative historical method was used. The authors analyzed the works of domestic and foreign experts on this issue, highlighted the main identification features of the paper of these written documents. The relevance of the ongoing research is due to the need for a comprehensive study of the writing material of the Arabographic monuments of Dagestan origin. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that the paper of these historical sources for the first time became the object of study in domestic source studies. It has been established that in the Dagestan manuscripts and epistolary documents of the 19th — early 20th centuries, the marked paper of Russian manufactories and factories is mainly represented. The article notes that for a full-fledged study of Dagestan Arabographic sources, it is necessary to use advanced digital technology and modern natural scientific developments. The study of historical sources paper is of great importance in the preservation and restoration of monuments of the written culture of the Dagestan peoples.

In the mid-18th century, at the royal court of Gondar, the scriptorium of King Iyo’ās (1755-1769) imported sheets of paper to make a lectionary (senkesar) in three volumes. Today, one volume remains in Addis Ababa at the Ethiopian National Archives and Library Agency, Department of Manuscripts, under the serial number 197. It is the only known Ethiopian Christian manuscript on paper. In Ethiopia, Christians copied their manuscripts exclusively on parchment. This innovative and ambitious project met the most sophisticated Ethiopian standards while adapting the codicological norms to the requirements of this new medium. Craftsmen who knew how to work on paper, foreigners or Ethiopians trained by foreigners, made this volume. The status of this manuscript was high enough to be part of the imperial library at the turn of the twentieth century and then included in the national heritage collection.

The Middle Ages 'feed' on the book. The culture of this period was shaped by Christianity, which is sometimes called a 'religion of the book.' After the decline of the Roman Empire together with the disappearance of statehood and the expansion of the illiterate barbarian peoples, the only remaining institutional mainstay of culture was the Church, which executed its mission on the basis of books. Apart from the 'book of books'--the Bible, there were liturgical books as well as a rich literary tradition of commenting the Bible and forming the Christian doctrine and its apology. In the Middle Ages, the book was therefore both an object of cult and the main creative factor of culture. The Church created a network of schools and, as a consequence of their development, the university. At first, books were produced in monasteries where scriptoria were founded as centers of literary culture, supplying schools, churches and individual recipients with manuscripts. Together with the development of schools and the founding of universities in the 13th century, the production of books was taken over by lay people, becoming the source of their livelihood. Systems of text copying developed: writing under dictation or the pecia system. Created by artisans and scholars, the mediaeval codex was the work of many hands. The production of a codex involved the manufacture of parchment or paper, toilsome work of a copyist and an illuminator, as well as the effort of a bookbinder who supplied the codex with a (frequently richly decorated) binding. Handwritten books were eventually supplanted by printed ones. The history of books is also connected to the development of writing (with its most mature form, called the Carolingian minuscule, codified in the 8th century). Mediaeval manuscript collections are studied by various disciplines, e.g. bibliology, librarianship, archivistics, manuscript studies (which include codicology, as well as palaeography and brachygraphy). Currently modern editions of manuscript texts representative of different scholarly disciplines are available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, members of three research teams, namely the Turfan Project of the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Berlin-based research project on pigments in Central Asian paper manuscripts, and the Hamburg-based project on the history and typology of Central Asian paper manuscripts, present some of the results of their cooperation. The investigated manuscripts belong to the Berlin Turfan Collection. On the basis of different examples the contribution of scientific methods to philological scholarship within a multidisciplinary approach is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article presents information on the effect of simmering on the chemical and mechanical properties of paper. Iron gall ink corrosion of paper threatens to destroy a large portion of historic manuscripts, records and drawings globally. A great deal of effort has been and continues to be, invested in studying and understanding the causes and pathways of iron gall ink corrosion of paper, and the efficacy of various conservation treatments. Among the many traditional treatments, "boiling paper" as a treatment for corroded iron gall ink documents has been used for more than 30 years 68.

Discusses a codicological approach to the analysis of the production of the books of hours. Use of paper in making the books of hours; Size and structure of the books of hours; Layout and decoration of the books of hours.

The Middle Ages 'feed' on the book. The culture of this period was shaped by Christianity, which is sometimes called a 'religion of the book.' After the decline of the Roman Empire together with the disappearance of statehood and the expansion of the illiterate barbarian peoples, the only remaining institutional mainstay of culture was the Church, which executed its mission on the basis of books. Apart from the 'book of books'--the Bible, there were liturgical books as well as a rich literary tradition of commenting the Bible and forming the Christian doctrine and its apology. In the Middle Ages, the book was therefore both an object of cult and the main creative factor of culture. The Church created a network of schools and, as a consequence of their development, the university. At fi rst, books were produced in monasteries where scriptoria were founded as centers of literary culture, supplying schools, churches and individual recipients with manuscripts. Together with the development of schools and the founding of universities in the 13th century, the production of books was taken over by lay people, becoming the source of their livelihood. Systems of text copying developed: writing under dictation or the pecia system. Created by artisans and scholars, the mediaeval codex was the work of many hands. The production of a codex involved the manufacture of parchment or paper, toilsome work of a copyist and an illuminator, as well as the effort of a bookbinder who supplied the codex with a (frequently richly decorated) binding. Handwritten books were eventually supplanted by printed ones. The history of books is also connected to the development of writing (with its most mature form, called the Carolingian minuscule, codifi ed in the 8th century). Mediaeval manuscript collections are studied by various disciplines, e.g. bibliology, librarianship, archivistics, manuscript studies (which include codicology, as well as palaeography and brachygraphy). Currently modern editions of manuscript texts representative of different scholarly disciplines are available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]