Műtárgyvédelem, 2004 (Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum)
Összefoglalók
BYZANTINE BINDING Restoration problems and solutions in the case of a Serbian codex FROM THE 13"' -14'" CENTURIES Ágnes Ádám The reconstruction of an old Serbian manuscript ritual book is an interesting and uncommon task for a restorer. The volume bears every mark characteristic of the special binding technique of Byzantine bindings. Thus, it was very important to preserve every tiny, typical feature and detail characteristic of the special binding technique of Byzantine bindings. The aim of the restoration was to bring the book into such a condition that the pages can be turned and the text can be read. The thick, grooved wooden boards were hung from text block in grain direction opposite each other. They could not endure the stretching forces affecting them from various directions and broke together with the hard leather cover. The holes in the wooden board on the back of the codex (twice three) suggest that the text block used to be held together with triple-braided leather stripes. The boards were grooved in a wedge shape on three sides. They were fixed to the text block also in a special manner; they were quasi sewed to it with the help of a flax thread through the holes bored into the boards. The spine of the volume was lined with a thick, coarse-woven cloth. The headband linings made of hempcords were sewed both to the gathering section and the perforated wooden boards. The codex had to be restored since the hand-sewing was injured and gathering sections got detached from the text block. The paper leaves had once already been mended. Old, frame-like completions, injuries, water spots and weakend parts could be observed on them. The parchment leaves had been too deeply incised at a number of places still before starting writing when the lines of the rows were drawn and the frames of the writing area were marked. In consequence they got torn at these places, and at a few other places they were cut through. The edges were injured and larger parchment fragments with texts were lost. A number of questions arose: what should be made with the old mendings, and what method and materials should be chosen for the correction. It was not my purpose to remove the old mendings, completions, patches from the paper and parchment leaves since they were evidently contemporary to the binding. The paper leaves were restored and completed with manual paper casting, Japanese vellum and mould-made paper depending on their conditions. The defective, injured parchment leaves could not be restored and completed with new parchment since the cut edges were extremely thick and sharp. The joining of the new parchment completion would have covered the letters at the edges, which carried information. Correction with the so-called parchment moulding method using a pulp made of parchment powder, cellulose fibres and alcohol and other additives proved successful. With this method, no less than half a page of the missing parchment can be completed where it is necessary. The binding technology was uncertain because of the injuries, thus a detailed 151
