A multi-technique nondestructive approach for characterizing the state of conservation of ancient bookbindings

Dynamic Line-Scan Thermography for the Inspection of Paper-Based Materials: A Case Study Focused on an Ancient Book Cover

“…In case books with similar bookbinding structure are stored vertically, gravity gradually pulls the unsupported fore edges down, thus causing-as in the present case-their warp. Spines are not present on the lateral side of the inspected book [1].…”

“…When applied to cultural heritage conservation activities are generally undertaken by a conservator-restorer. Scientists may help in this task by providing information concerning the subsurface state of the object under inspection and, therefore, trying to understand the main causes of deterioration [1]. This is quite "difficult" in paper-based materials such as book cover because the agents of deterioration are many (i.e., fire, water, gas and heat, dust and neglect, pests and other vermin and mishandling).…”

“…This is quite "difficult" in paper-based materials such as book cover because the agents of deterioration are many (i.e., fire, water, gas and heat, dust and neglect, pests and other vermin and mishandling). Non-destructive inspection (NDI) may offer a solution for any diagnostic team to find the non-visible degradation processes and, in fact, some case studies have recently been proposed, analyzed and discussed [2,3], also thank to the use of infrared vision [1].…”

Mid-wave Infrared Reflectography and Thermography for the Study of Ancient Books: A Review

“…Moreover, IRT detects subsurface features in artworks and locates their position . Nowadays, IRT has become one of the most effective methods for the analysis of books (Mercuri et al 2015), making it possible to characterize structural elements of bookbinding (Mercuri et al 2011;Sfarra et al 2018;Tortora, Sfarra, and Casieri 2019), the adhesion of gildings in illuminated manuscripts (Doni et al 2014), and biological damage in parchment (Mercuri, Pinzari et al 2018). In particular, IRT has been applied to detect underdrawings in illuminations ), text buried inside bookbindings (Mercuri, Gnoli et al 2013), and erased graphical features from archival documents (Loreti et al 2016).…”

NMR Relaxometry and IR Thermography to Study Ancient Cotton Paper Bookbinding

“…The cover was analyzed in terms of spatial distributions of moisture content, through two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry (2D 1 H-NMR-R) [3], and thermal diffusivity via higher-order statistics thermography (IRT-HOS) [4]. We performed both methods using non-destructive and portable instruments which enable in situ investigations [5,6], likewise precious book collections [7][8][9]. Cotton paper is a random network of hydrated cellulose fibers.…”