X-rays helped find a hidden medieval library
Readers of the blog about medieval books probably know that the bindings of the books of the early modern era often hid a treasure in themselves - fragments cut off from medieval manuscripts, from small pieces to whole pages. The fragments were placed inside the binding to strengthen the book and to support the cover of the binding. This reuse process — cut and shuffle — was used everywhere, and went out of fashion just like handwritten books after the invention of printing. Fragments of medieval pages can be found in one of five bindings of printed books of the 16th and 17th centuries. And although these free-riders are hidden from us, sometimes we manage to meet with them if the binding is damaged.
But what to do with a thousand fragments hidden in bindings, preserved in good quality? This question gave impetus to the development of a method for studying fragments without damaging and removing bindings. This method combines the medieval history of books and macro-X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (Macro X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry, MA-XRF), (developed by Joris Dik from Delft University of Technology). In this post, especially for you, I will tell you how we were able using digital technology to flip through invisible pages and gain access to a hidden library.
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In the spring of 2014, I was asked to write a small article about ideas and methods that can change the scientific discipline, even if they have not yet become real. I wrote how we could get access to the hidden medieval “library” if we could find the way to a thousand fragments of manuscripts hidden in covers. I joked that you need to take books containing these fragments, whose bindings are strengthened at their expense, and to roll them on the baggage scanner tape at the airport. Let's give them a portion of X-rays.
Then I remembered that my associate in the investment program of The Young Academy , Joris Dick, developed X-ray technology that allows researchers to look through pictures and search for previous versions of the compositions. Joris and I received funding from the The Young Academy project for transporting a scanner to the library at Leiden University, which supports unusual research, such as we were going to do. We called our project “The Hidden Library”, and on October 4, 2015, we began to emit x-rays into boundings of books of the early new era.
? w = 525 & h = 310
Rembrandt's painting “The Old Man with a Beard” and a self-portrait hidden under it
The MA-XRF technology was developed by Joris Dick and his team at Delft Technical University, together with industrial, academic and museum partners. The device was arranged so that it could be transported to the museum in several drawers. There it can be used to display hidden layers of paint in the paintings of Rembrandt and other masters of antiquity. For example, in collaboration with partners from Antwerp, Joris Dick successfully showed the unfinished self-portrait of Rembrandt, hidden under the portrait of an old man - and here is an even more recent discovery connected with Rembrandt. A thin beam of x-rays is used to scan an object and build a picture of the presence of various elements below the surface. theoretically, this technology should also show medieval ink, even if it is covered with a layer of parchment, paper or leather - the most common materials that hide fragments of medieval books from us. But will it show?
MA-XRF Scanner
The answer to the question was received almost immediately after turning on the device: yes, it will. However, research at the junction of various sciences often occurs with complications. We see the text, but we can not read. The team conducted several experiments. We found that the key role was played by the distance between the emitting head and the bound fragment. A device was built that allows you to adjust the distance between the head and the fragment with an accuracy of half a millimeter.
Another parameter that had to be controlled was the time required to scan a fragment. The head moved forward / backward in front of the scanner, but at what speed was it better to do? How long should the scanner work before moving on to the next piece? At what point is the text clear enough to read? All these questions were resolved, and we were able to see the fragments through the binding. We could even do it in such a way that the text was clear, legible and amenable to dating. The following examples show such text.
We scanned about twenty antique books. It seems a small amount, but the main goal of the project was to establish whether we can expose the binding to X-ray scanning and see fragments of medieval books inside. In this sense, the project was successful.
Before you start dreaming about scanning thousands of new fragments, you must return from heaven to earth. First, the second parameter — how long the binding needs to be scanned to reveal hidden treasures — remains a practical obstacle between science and the disclosure of a medieval source that has never been systematically studied. The sample text shown was obtained by scanning for more than 24 hours. A brief scan makes the text visible, but not readable, as shown in the following image — this is the image of the same example that is shown in the first of three photographs, but with a much shorter exposure.
Another problem is to distinguish the text on the front and back sides of the fragment. Separation of the two sides of the sheet is possible depending on the composition of the ink. For example, in the case of iron it will be visible on both sides of the sheet, which will lead to strange images, as in the following photo.
It is necessary to look for those elements that are found on the side of the sheet nearest to the beam, and in our case it turned out to be calcium. As a result, this fragment is best seen when showing only calcium.
Therefore, of course, the new technology is amazing, it shows us fragments of medieval texts that we would never have seen, because they are hidden under a layer of parchment or paper. But the method is not yet perfected, it has problems that need to be solved, the main one of which is a long exposure. Remaining within the framework of the analogy, although the door to the virtual medieval library is opened with a scanner, we need to find a way to enter and look around as quickly and efficiently as can be done in a regular library.
But what to do with a thousand fragments hidden in bindings, preserved in good quality? This question gave impetus to the development of a method for studying fragments without damaging and removing bindings. This method combines the medieval history of books and macro-X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (Macro X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry, MA-XRF), (developed by Joris Dik from Delft University of Technology). In this post, especially for you, I will tell you how we were able using digital technology to flip through invisible pages and gain access to a hidden library.
')
Plan
In the spring of 2014, I was asked to write a small article about ideas and methods that can change the scientific discipline, even if they have not yet become real. I wrote how we could get access to the hidden medieval “library” if we could find the way to a thousand fragments of manuscripts hidden in covers. I joked that you need to take books containing these fragments, whose bindings are strengthened at their expense, and to roll them on the baggage scanner tape at the airport. Let's give them a portion of X-rays.
Then I remembered that my associate in the investment program of The Young Academy , Joris Dick, developed X-ray technology that allows researchers to look through pictures and search for previous versions of the compositions. Joris and I received funding from the The Young Academy project for transporting a scanner to the library at Leiden University, which supports unusual research, such as we were going to do. We called our project “The Hidden Library”, and on October 4, 2015, we began to emit x-rays into boundings of books of the early new era.
Theory
? w = 525 & h = 310Rembrandt's painting “The Old Man with a Beard” and a self-portrait hidden under it
The MA-XRF technology was developed by Joris Dick and his team at Delft Technical University, together with industrial, academic and museum partners. The device was arranged so that it could be transported to the museum in several drawers. There it can be used to display hidden layers of paint in the paintings of Rembrandt and other masters of antiquity. For example, in collaboration with partners from Antwerp, Joris Dick successfully showed the unfinished self-portrait of Rembrandt, hidden under the portrait of an old man - and here is an even more recent discovery connected with Rembrandt. A thin beam of x-rays is used to scan an object and build a picture of the presence of various elements below the surface. theoretically, this technology should also show medieval ink, even if it is covered with a layer of parchment, paper or leather - the most common materials that hide fragments of medieval books from us. But will it show?
Practice
MA-XRF Scanner
The answer to the question was received almost immediately after turning on the device: yes, it will. However, research at the junction of various sciences often occurs with complications. We see the text, but we can not read. The team conducted several experiments. We found that the key role was played by the distance between the emitting head and the bound fragment. A device was built that allows you to adjust the distance between the head and the fragment with an accuracy of half a millimeter.
Another parameter that had to be controlled was the time required to scan a fragment. The head moved forward / backward in front of the scanner, but at what speed was it better to do? How long should the scanner work before moving on to the next piece? At what point is the text clear enough to read? All these questions were resolved, and we were able to see the fragments through the binding. We could even do it in such a way that the text was clear, legible and amenable to dating. The following examples show such text.
We scanned about twenty antique books. It seems a small amount, but the main goal of the project was to establish whether we can expose the binding to X-ray scanning and see fragments of medieval books inside. In this sense, the project was successful.
Challenges for the future
Before you start dreaming about scanning thousands of new fragments, you must return from heaven to earth. First, the second parameter — how long the binding needs to be scanned to reveal hidden treasures — remains a practical obstacle between science and the disclosure of a medieval source that has never been systematically studied. The sample text shown was obtained by scanning for more than 24 hours. A brief scan makes the text visible, but not readable, as shown in the following image — this is the image of the same example that is shown in the first of three photographs, but with a much shorter exposure.
Another problem is to distinguish the text on the front and back sides of the fragment. Separation of the two sides of the sheet is possible depending on the composition of the ink. For example, in the case of iron it will be visible on both sides of the sheet, which will lead to strange images, as in the following photo.
It is necessary to look for those elements that are found on the side of the sheet nearest to the beam, and in our case it turned out to be calcium. As a result, this fragment is best seen when showing only calcium.
Therefore, of course, the new technology is amazing, it shows us fragments of medieval texts that we would never have seen, because they are hidden under a layer of parchment or paper. But the method is not yet perfected, it has problems that need to be solved, the main one of which is a long exposure. Remaining within the framework of the analogy, although the door to the virtual medieval library is opened with a scanner, we need to find a way to enter and look around as quickly and efficiently as can be done in a regular library.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/396425/
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