Parchment

I am currently studying for an MA in Conservation at Camberwell
College. My major project is a parchment document dated from 1623.
The parchment is made from sheep skin and the ink used on the
document is iron gall ink. My main question are about cleaning,
consolidation of the ink and flattening of the object. How far
should I go with cleaning? I am not sure if I should stick just with
non-aqueous cleaning as brushing, chemical sponge, etc.

The document is very large, and I am not sure if I should use any
other form of cleaning such as moist swabs. Perhaps I can just brush
the recto with ink writing and try to clean the verso with some more
radical treatment?

Should I consolidate flaking ink before cleaning or after? I worry
that even with most careful cleaning some ink particles can be
removed (there is a lot of ink flaking). I would like to know which
consolidants for ink flaking would be most suitable. So far I have
considered use of fish gelatine. Shall I carry out deacidification
before consolidation? I am aware that acidity is not such a problem
for parchment but I suppose it should be done before deactivating
iron in the ink--not much research been done in this area. How
should I deal with corrosion of the ink within the parchment. Does
anyone have suggestion for non-aqueous treatment?

Finally, should I use PEG? Is it really a necessary treatment? I
wonder if just humidification and light flattening would be enough?

Bohuslava Ticha


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:37
                  Distributed: Friday, January 4, 2008
                       Message Id: cdl-21-37-021
                                  ***