Assessing the condition of the Domesday Books from the visual to the molecular

Nancy Bell; Rene Larsen; Kate Patten; Dorte V P Sommer; Michael Drakopoulos; Tim J Wess

doi:10.1186/s40494-018-0215-0

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Assessing the condition of the Domesday Books from the visual to the molecular

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Assessing the condition of the Domesday Books from the visual to the molecular

Nancy Bell, Rene Larsen, Kate Patten, Dorte V P Sommer, Michael Drakopoulos and Tim J Wess

Heritage Science, Vol.6, 50

2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-018-0215-0

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Abstract

amino acid analysis

damage assessment

Domesday Book

fibre assessment

shrinkage temperature

visual assessment

x-ray diffraction

This article presents a collaborative study to determine the condition within volumes of the Great and Little Domesday Book, held in The National Archives, UK. Advances in technology in both biochemical and biophysical analysis have allowed for the first time undetectable sub milligram sampling of the five-volume Great and Little Domesday Books at nine sites in total. Visual analysis was followed by microscopic fibre assessment, hydrothermal stability (shrinkage activity), amino acid analysis and microfocus X-ray diffraction. Based on the visual examination of 887 leaves in all five volumes of the Domesday Book, 587 leaves or 66% of the leaves exhibit a degree of surface gelatinisation due in part to humidification and pressing practices carried out as part of the many re-binding campaigns carried out over the centuries. Microfibre assessment indicated the percentage of damaged fibres detected varies from 56 to 100% in the samples taken, a correlation between the sum of oxidative sensitive amino acids and the observed damage of fibres was obtained. More than 1000 X-ray diffraction patterns collected showed a significant variation in amount of visible fibrillar collagen within each sample scan. Micro analysis performed here on corium collagen, means the results represent an average of the cross section of the structure of which the surface constitutes the smallest part. As the major part of damage is on the surface of the parchment leaves, the condition is likely to be worse than that reflected by the analytical results shown here. This evidence therefore prompted a re-think of the preservation protocols required to extend the usable life of the Domesday Book volumes. To this end, the preservation environment for the volumes is maintained at 40-45% relative humidity (RH) significantly lower than the recommended parameter of 55% RH.

Details

Title: Assessing the condition of the Domesday Books from the visual to the molecular
Authors: Nancy Bell (Author) - National Archives and Record Administration, United States
Rene Larsen (Author) - Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Denmark
Kate Patten (Author) - Cardiff University, United Kingdom
Dorte V P Sommer (Author) - Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Denmark
Michael Drakopoulos (Author) - Diamond Synchrotron, United Kingdom
Tim J Wess (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Publication details: Heritage Science, Vol.6, 50; 11
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd.
Date published: 2018
DOI: 10.1186/s40494-018-0215-0
ISSN: 2050-7445
Copyright note: Copyright © The Author(s) 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creat iveco mmons .org/licen ses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Organisation Unit: Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic); University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99451132102621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Chemistry, Analytical; Humanities, Multidisciplinary; Materials Science, Multidisciplinary; Spectroscopy