L-125. Scientific Analysis of the Book - Advance Reading List

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  • Preliminary Advices

    Most of the readings will be made available to admitted students in the Dropbox folder for this class, or are readily available online. It is ideal to read everything and then review before class. For the non-scientist for whom this course is geared, many of the readings will be difficult because of the terminology. Students are encouraged to please read what they can; Richard Hark especially will be able to illuminate any unclear scientific concepts. Ray Clemens can help with any book terms that might be difficult.

  • Recommended Readings

    Taylor, Paul. Condition: The Ageing of Art. London: Paul Holberton Publishing, 2015. [This is a great book, and, although it largely deals with painting, there is much here for those working on books.]

    Craddock, Paul T., ed. Scientific Investigation of Copies, Fakes and Forgeries. Amsterdam; Boston: Elsevier / Butterworth-Heinemann, 2009. [Also, on many different objects; good reference work. We’ll be reading at least two chapters from his book for class.]

    Clemens, Raymond, and Timothy Graham. Introduction to Manuscript Studies. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2007. [If you haven’t had a book history class, this book, although showing its age, like its co-author, is still a useful reference work for how medieval manuscripts were made (see chapters 1-4).]

    Brown, Michelle, Elizabeth C. Teviotdale, and Nancy Turner. Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2018. [A useful reference for book terms.]

  • Reading to Complete Prior to the Course

    “Sources, Motives, Approaches and Disclosures,” in Craddock, Paul T. Scientific Investigation of Copies, Fakes and Forgeries. Amsterdam; Boston: Elsevier / Butterworth-Heinemann, 2009: 1-21.

    Easton, Roger L., and William Noel. “Infinite Possibilities: Ten Years of Study of the Archimedes Palimpsest.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 154, no. 1 (2010): 50-76.

    France, Fenella G., Doug Emery, and Michael B. Toth. “The Convergence of Information Technology, Data, and Management in a Library Imaging Program.” The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy 80, no. 1 (2010): 33-59.

    As much of Taylor, Paul. Condition: The Ageing of Art. London: Paul Holberton Publishing, 2015 as you can, but at least the Introduction, “1. Terms and Techniques,” and “6. Cleaning.”

    Urbanus, Jason, Malin Grunberg Banyasz, Eric A. Powell, Samir S. Patel, Marco Merola, Jarrett A. Lobell, Zach Zorich, Daniel Weiss, and Hyungeun Kim. “From the Trenches.” Archaeology 69, no. 1 (2016): 9-10, 12, 14, 16.

  • Readings for Each Course Day

    Monday

    Albrecht, Felix. “Between Boon and Bane. The Use of Chemical Reagents in Palimpsest Research in the Nineteenth Century.” Care and Conservation of Manuscripts. Proceedings of the Seventh International Seminar Held at the Royal Library, Copenhagen 18th-19th April 2002 13 (2012): 147-65.

    Tuesday

    Chapter 5: “Physical Dating Techniques I: Radiocarbon Dating,” in Craddock, Paul T., ed. Scientific Investigation of Copies, Fakes and Forgeries. Amsterdam; Boston: Elsevier / Butterworth-Heinemann, 2009: 87-109.

    Wednesday

    Burgio, Lucia, Robin J. H. Clark, and Richard R. Hark. Raman Microscopy And X-ray Fluorescence Analysis of Pigments on Medieval and Renaissance Italian Manuscript Cuttings. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107 (2010): 5726-31.

    In addition, please read Section 2.1 of Handheld XRF in Cultural Heritage: A Practical Workbook for Conservators.

    Thursday

    Burgio, Lucia, Robin J. H. Clark, and Richard R. Hark. “Spectroscopic Investigation of Modern Pigments on Purportedly Medieval Miniatures by the ‘Spanish Forger’.” Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 40, no. 12 (2009): 2031-36.

    Fiddyment, Sarah, Matthew D. Teasdale, and Jiří Vnouček. “So, You Want to Do Biocodicology? A Field Guide to the Biological Analysis of Parchment.” Heritage Science 7 (2019): https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-019-0278-6.

    Friday

    Easton, Roger L., and William Noel. “Infinite Possibilities: Ten Years of Study of the Archimedes Palimpsest.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 154, no. 1 (2010): 50-76.

    Urbanus, Jason, Malin Grunberg Banyasz, Eric A. Powell, Samir S. Patel, Marco Merola, Jarrett A. Lobell, Zach Zorich, Daniel Weiss, and Hyungeun Kim. “From the Trenches.” Archaeology 69, no. 1 (2016): 9-10, 12, 14, 16.

    France, Fenella G., Doug Emery, and Michael B. Toth. “The Convergence of Information Technology, Data, and Management in a Library Imaging Program.” The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy 80, no. 1 (2010): 33-59.