A distinguishing feature of Jakub Kazimierz Haur’s Merkurius polski z dobremi nowinami, wesołemi avizami, wierszem opisany, a manuscript from the BUW Special Collections (MS. sygn. 191), is that the primary redaction of the text has been covered and overwritten, and it is therefore illegible. Out of 145 manuscript leaves as many as 100 have been covered with patches on which the author rendered his secondary, and final, redaction of the text. This project aims to recover the hidden data by means of applying material analysis to selected folios. The analysis, conducted in collaboration with ERIHS.pl and run by experts from Mikołaj Kopernik University in Toruń, will include macrofluorescent X-ray imagining (MAXRF). The recovered text will be then analysed and compared with the second version. In addition, the elemental composition of ink will be analysed based on samples from different spots in the manuscript. The latter analysis will hopefully help to establish the number of scribal hands and the order in which particular components of the text were added to the manuscript. The project has been partially funded by the National Institute for Museums and Public Collections (NIMOZ).

For further details on the project, see: http://www.e-rihs.pl/index.php/6ty-nabor-wnioskow-molabfixlab-pl-badanie-kart-rekopisu-merkuriusza-polskiego/

Project Supervisor: Agnieszka Fabiańska