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New Findings May Help Preserve Rare Gutenberg Bibles
"Known as the first books to be produced using movable type, the Gutenberg Bibles are also famous for their colorful illustrations. But the exact composition of these 15th century painted images, which depict animals, flowers, fruit and other decorative figures, has remained a mystery, until now.
Using non-invasive analytical techniques, a team of researchers in England say they have for the first time precisely identified the pigments used to illustrate seven Gutenberg Bibles located in Europe. The findings provide chemical data that could ultimately help preserve and restore these rare historic treasures as well as provide insights into the printing practices of early Europe, they say.
The study will be described in the June 1 print issue of the American Chemical Society’s Analytical Chemistry, a peer-reviewed journal. ACS is the world’s largest scientific society.
“This spectroscopic chemical analysis of the pigments represents an important first step in an appropriate conservation and preservation strategy,” says study co-author Gregory D. Smith, Ph.D., formerly with University College London and now a professor of conservation science at Buffalo State College in New York. Some chemicals used to conserve artifacts are appropriate for some materials but not others, Smith adds. “If you don’t know the chemical composition of an artifact, such as a manuscript, then you have the potential to damage it by using the wrong chemicals to restore it or exposing it to the wrong environment when trying to preserve it.”..."
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