Ink and Parchment: An Integrated Model for the Study of Reused Manuscript Fragments in Early Modern Book Bindings

The project aims to develop an integrated analytical model for the study of manuscript fragments, combining philological analysis with non-destructive physico-chemical techniques. It continues research initiated during the examination of the exceptionally valuable eleventh-century English N-Psalter fragments discovered in the bindings of sixteenth-century printed books from the Cyprian Norwid Library in Elbląg.

The philological component encompasses palaeographic analysis (supported by digital handwriting analysis tools), as well as codicological, linguistic, provenance, and historical investigations. The material (physico-chemical) component employs techniques such as macro X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, optical coherence tomography (OCT), laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), and multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS).

Project coordinator: Monika Opalińska
Project team: Monika Opalińska, Barbara Wagner, Agnieszka Fabiańska