Ink damage
Ink corrosion refers to the decomposition of the writing material ( paper ) caused by the writing fluid ( ink ).
The fact that ink was damaged became public awareness, for example, through the necessary restoration of numerous music manuscripts by Johann Sebastian Bach . Ink corrosion occurs on papers that have been written on with ink containing iron vitriol, as in the case of the 3rd century BC. Used iron gall ink . Up until the middle of the 19th century, this was the most widely used writing fluid in Europe and thus also by Bach for his musical notation.
When the sulphate ion of the iron vitriol (iron (II) sulphate, an iron salt of sulfuric acid) contained in the iron gall ink reacts with substances contained in the air (especially water ), sulfuric acid is formed , which attacks the paper fibers by splitting the cellulose polymers. The paper then loses its strength in the area of the lettering and, in extreme cases, disintegrates completely. When moving or leafing through the affected sheets of paper or pages, fragments with lettering suddenly break out. The affected texts become incomplete and incomprehensible, and entire historical manuscript documents become unusable. As a result of the diffusion of sulfuric acid into the fiber composite, brownish areas often form around the lettering, which deteriorate the contrast between the lettering and the paper, making the documents more difficult to read.
One possible backup and restoration process for affected pages is the paper split process . Its importance has declined, it is only rarely used.
See also
literature
- Enke Huhsmann: Extended methods for chemical stabilization and strengthening of ink-damaged papers . Diploma thesis State Academy of Fine Arts, Stuttgart 2000.
- Enke Huhsmann: Treatment of ink-damaged stocks: Contract award of the archive of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck taking into account the aqueous phytate treatment . In: Papier-Restaurierung, Vol. 3 (2002), no. 1, pp. 35–39.
- Gerhard Banik (ed.): Ink damage . Degree course in the restoration and conservation of graphics, archive and library material, State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart. Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-931485-39-0 .
- Robert Fuchs, Oliver Hahn, Doris Oltrogge: "Mind and soul are confused ...": the ink-pitting problem in Johann Sebastian Bach's autographs . In: Restauro, 106 2 (2000), pp. 116-121.
- Marga APC de Feber, John BGA Havermans, Peter Defize: Iron-gall ink corrosion . In: Restaurator, 21 4 (2000), pp. 204–212
Web links
- Of mold, ink damage and splitting paper
- B minor and scratch paper ( Memento from April 3, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Article about ink damage on the music by Johann Sebastian Bach (currently without pictures)