Conservation around the Millennium (Hungarian National Museum, 2001)
Pages - 108
were leather remains on the parchment endpapers, which came from the blinding in of the leather cover. (BEK Cod. Lat.2., BEK Cod.Lat.5.) The microscopic and chemical analyses of the materials of the some corvinas could be carried out with the collaboration of specialists from the Hungarian National Museum. Beside professional curiosity, the analysis had another purpose as well, namely to collect and systematise the data of the materials and binding technique of the corvincas in the hope that they can help us further to answer the still open questions: did Hungarian or Italian book binders work in King Matthias’s court and if the unique working style of the book bindery that worked beside the copiers' workshop can be defined. The materials of the binding of some corvinas could be identified with absolute certainty. Parallelly to this work, we collected a whole bulk of data concerning the structure and technology of the bindings. These data came from the analysis of the notes, photos and slides taken in the course of restoration. The few not yet restored codices serve as interesting and significant sources, since detail photos and enlargements can be made of the original, untouched binding technical solutions. We also have to mention the limitations of the analysis of materials. We could work only with fragments - scraps - that could not be used again during restoration. Ethics does not allow taking larger samples. MATERIAL ANALYSIS The analytical methods that can be applied are the following: Identification of fractions of materials from the microscopic image by way of morphological analysis. From small amounts of material, data can be gained through chemical processes with known professional methods.6 Further solutions are optical microscopic investigation, energy dispersive microanalysis and the examination of the surface quality. These methods were used in the Technical Physical Research Institute of the MTA on the headband of one of the corvinas. WRITING MATERIAL The followings could be learned about the main constituent materials of the codices we examined: Most of the corvinas were written on parchment, which was made, according to the microscopic image, from goatskin and calfskin. The papers of the paper codices are hand-made rag papers. These writing materials can remain in an excellent condition within the favourable storage conditions due to their exceptionally advantageous properties. Even the manuscripts that were stored in adverse circumstances in Turkey did not ultimately perish. They could be rescued within the frames of the Corvina-project. STITCHING TECHNIQUE The thread with which the section of the codices consisting of four leaves were stitched together were made of flax or hemp according to the microscopic analysis. The original endpapers were made of parchment or paper. The parchment flyleaves are usually smaller than the body of the book; they were slightly folded back beside the back and stitched to the first and last section. 108
