Kovács Petronella (szerk.): Isis - Erdélyi magyar restaurátor füzetek 6. (Székelyudvarhely, 2007)
Kiss Hédy: A Székely Nemzeti Múzeumban őrzött zászlók állapotfelmérése
Restoration of a Hungarian folk calendar from the 19th century and a prognosticon written in Roman language with Cyrillic letters Hungarian folk calendar The calendar is the property of the Teleki-Bolyai Documentation Library in Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureş,.). It was opened to the public in 1802 owing to Count Sámuel Teleki of Szék the founder of the Bibliotheca Telekiana. The library initially counted 40000 volumes, to which the materials of numerous libraries, aristocratic, school, monastic, teachers’ and medical ones were added. The largest of these collections (80000 volumes) was the Bolyai Library, including the two Bolyais’ manuscript library of 20000 pages, which had earlier worked as the library of the Calvinist College of Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureş).. The collection contains numerous incunabula, first editions, products of famous Western European press houses, artistic bindings and books illustrated by outstanding masters. Zsuzsanna Bethlen of Iktár the count’s wife’s Hungarica collection is especially valuable. The prognoses of the Hungarian folk calendar apply to the year 1782. The small print was printed in two colours. The text is black, the titles, the symbols and the feasts were written in red. The content mirrors the traditional structure of fold calendars: the list of the symbols, the month divided in two pages, the prognoses about the seasons, health and diseases, about the “Noble Transylvania”, the list marking the places and the dates of the markets and finally the chronicle of the Hungarians including the events of the lives of the contemporary aristocratic families. Empty sheets were bound between the pages of the calendar for the owner to make notes on it. The volume is composed of five numbers, which were stitched together at three points. The analysis of the fibres proved that the calendar was made of hand made rag paper of medium long fibres. The pH value of the leaves was 5.5, while the level of glue content was low. The analyses demonstrated the presence of various fungi. Disinfection was made in the vapour of formalin. Other restoration schools prefer chemicals less harmful to humans, in Romania, however, formalin is often used partly because of financial considerations and partly due to the lack of relevant researches. After dusting and numbering the leaves with a pencil, the volume was taken apart to leaves and the cleaning was carried on with a rubber. After solubility tests, the leaves were bathed in a watery-alcoholic bath (1:2), then they were washed in a watery-alcoholic bath and re-glued with carboxi-methylcellulose. Completions were made with fitting Japanese paper to both sides of the leaves and carboxi-methylcellulose was used for gluing. To reconstruct the cover, we searched for analogues in the Téka. Simple cardboard covers were generally glued to the body of the book only at the spine. In our view, funcţional aspects are more emphatic at volumes that are likely to be daily studied as compared to works of art, thus the cover cut from hard cardboard was glued not only to the spine but a flyleaf was also inserted. This is a compromise, but it can be removed any time. Finally the book was bound in a decorative Japanese paper and cotton binding. Romanian prognosticon A number of pages, among them the title page are missing from the calendar written in Romanian with Cyrillic letters. At the end, it contains a table of prognoses for more than one hundred years starting with 1816, which implies that the prognosticon was edited in 1815. The illustrations are linked with the depiction of the year, the planets and the symbols of the zodiac. The notes that support or refute the prognoses are interesting from a cultural aspect, since they mirror the approach to the prognoses and the confidence and belief in them. The book did not suffer biological damage. Acidity, photo-chemical processes and human interventions deteriorated it. The linen binding, the indigo blue flyleaf and the paper stripes with typed texts used for the reinforcement of the centres of the sheets, which covered intact surfaces as well, attest to repairs made by a book binder. These stripes made the paper rigid, which tore along the stripes. The last leaf was bound upside down. The corners were bent back and at a few places larger losses could be observed. A few tears were glued together with postal stamps. The book was often thumbed, as it can be read from the large surfaces preserving greasy handprints. The paper became brittle and rigid in consequence of acidity. The brown discolouration of the leaves suggests production faults: it can come from the composition, the quantity of chemicals left over after treatment, which could accelerate the process of ageing. The high glue content increased the rigidity of the paper. The water traces on the leaves tell that it was once soaked with water. After dusting and numbering, the book was taken apart to leaves and dissolution test was carried out with the 1:1 watery solution of ethyl alcohol. At the notes made in ink and with ink pencil, the superfluous ink was removed: the solution of ethyl alcohol was applied on the back of the written surface with a wad and the superfluous quantity was absorbed with a blotting paper. So we did not need to fear that the remaining ink would disperse during the washing. The leaves were washed being immersed in warm water containing a neutral detergent. After steeping, the repair stripes were removed. Re-gluing was made with the 0.3-0.4 % watery solution of carboxi-methyl-cellulose. The leaves were dried in the air, then they were put into a press. The leaves were prepared to completion at the tears with fluffing, and the broken edges where there was no writing were removed. The losses were replaced with doubled Japanese paper. The comers were rounded similarly to the original. The tears were strengthened on both sides with Japanese paper. Ernő Krón book binder 88
