With the participation of specialists and experts in knowledge heritage

"Words from the East" reviews the life cycle of manuscripts

Part of the symposium that was held on the sidelines of the "Words from the East" exhibition.

From the source

Within the activities of the "Words from the East" exhibition, the Sharjah Book Authority organized a dialogue session entitled "The Life of Manuscripts", during which it hosted both: Head of the Preservation, Treatment and Restoration Department at the Juma Al Majid Center for Culture and Heritage, Dr. Bassam Daghestani, and the founder of "Antiquarian Inpress" for rare books Hugo Wechrek .

The session, which came in the presence of the Chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority, Ahmed bin Rakad Al Ameri, and managed by the Emirati media, Sheikha Al-Mutairi, dealt with the role of restoration in granting manuscripts a longer life, and the importance of efforts led by specialized centers and collectors.

Take great care

On the steps for salvaging and treating manuscripts, Dr. Daghestani pointed out that dealing with these treasures takes into account their organic composition, which makes them affected by moisture and bacteria, which requires careful attention to them, starting with the stage of sterilization and cleaning up to binding, photography and preservation.

Regarding the stages of restoration in accordance with modern techniques, Dagestani listed the steps, beginning with the sterilization process that used to use chemicals in the past to eliminate the biological pests attached to manuscript papers, and after the negative impact of the chemicals became clear, the sterilization technique with nitrogen gas began to be used to ensure better protection of the manuscript, although the sterilization The chemist consumed a shorter time than nitrogen sterilization.

During his explanation of the restoration stages in detail, he reviewed samples of manuscript images before and after the sterilization process that takes place in a special device, and lasts from three to four weeks, followed by the stage of dry cleaning and chemical treatment with the aim of adjusting the pH in the body of the manuscript, given that the excess acidity leads to the drying of the books , Especially manuscript or printed on low-quality, fiber-free paper.

According to Dagestani, manuscripts are also processed by returning a percentage of moisture to ensure the ductility of the papers that are considered organic matter, and if moisture is lost, it breaks, then comes the appropriate manual restoration phase of the manuscripts, and the appropriate automatic restoration of printed books, right up to the stage of binding, photocopying and preservation.

It includes storing a microfilm copy of the book, and another digital copy for circulation by researchers, then storing the paper book, whether written or printed, in an appropriate place, to ensure that it is not damaged and that restoration efforts are not lost again.

Passion

Hugo Witcherick talked about his company owning 50,000 rare pieces of books, manuscripts, maps, and scattered works of art, a group of which was exhibited in the exhibition, and stressed that the nature of their work requires that the restoration of manuscripts be part of their interest, due to the fact that rare manuscripts and books travel from different places, and require a process. Storage and shipping considerate protection.

He considered that the passion for manuscripts and heritage collectibles by individuals, along with the activity of interested companies and institutions, leads to the protection of rare books, pointing out that they do not deal with digital copies of the holdings nor do they reproduce digital prints for their works, because the original copies in light of digitization lose their value, and because Collectors are exclusively looking for the originals.

Bassam Daghestani:

• Dealing with these treasures takes into account their organic composition and susceptibility to moisture and bacteria.

• The session dealt with the role of restoration in granting manuscripts a longer life.

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