Hole Repairs as Proof of a Specific Method of Manufacture of Late Antique Parchment

3.1 Origins of Holes in Parchment

Before the methods of repairing holes in Late Antique parchment will be described, it is important to discuss how holes appear in parchment. It seems logical that defective skins with holes were avoided and sorted out shortly after the animals were skinned. As the lambs were slaughtered at a young age, it can be expected that their skins were without any blemish. However, holes might appear later, when the pelt which had been first soaked for several days in lime starts to be de-haired on the parchment-maker’s beam. Some small holes might already have come from the skinning of the animals but were for the time being hidden underneath the hair, while new holes can appear during the process of the cleaning of the flesh side of the skin by an improper movement of the parchment-maker operating the very sharp knife. In addition to the holes created during the cleaning process, there is the potential for new holes to appear when the skin is stretched on the frame.

A special risk for the creation of holes was posed by the flay cuts located on the flesh side of the skin, which originate from the skinning of the animal by the butcher. The flay cuts can be found especially around the animal’s belly and axillae. During the tensioning of the skin, flay cuts can appear in the places where the butcher’s knife penetrated too deep into the skin so that a hole developed unexpectedly; often in the shape of an eye (Tancous 1986) (Figure 1).

Figure 1:

The Vienna Dioscorides, Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. Med. gr. 1, fol. 236v. Repair patch over the hole created by the opening of one of the many flay cuts (in transmitted light).

Another type of hole can suddenly start to appear during the peeling of the epidermis. Again, holes are created mostly in areas of the former axillae and belly edges, where the skin is thinner. More holes can appear as a result of a combination of several factors, for example in a situation when the epidermis is peeled off over the area where flay cuts are located on the skin. Since holes enlarge quickly during the stretching of the skin, immediate reaction is required, otherwise holes can get out of control and the skin could be completely ruined.

3.2 Epidermis Patches

Applying an epidermis patch over the hole is the fastest way to prevent uncontrolled enlargement of holes during tensioning of skins on the frame. For this purpose, the parchment-maker has a large amount of freshly removed epidermis tissue available which can be torn into smaller pieces and used as patches (Figure 2). The parchment-maker must apply the patch onto the problematic area very quickly. One larger patch can stabilize the formation of an accumulation of smaller holes. Larger individual holes might be repaired with one single patch, often of triangular shape.

Figure 2:

The parchment-making experiment.

(a) Peeling of the epidermis layer from the hair side of the lambskin. (b) Epidermis gets easily ripped but smaller pieces can be reused for repairs. (c) Transparent epidermis tissue in water ready for the reuse as patches.

The epidermis patch is always applied on the hair side of the peeled skin. In a way, the epidermis layer is returned to its original position in the structure of the skin but placed in a different area on the grain surface. No additional glue is applied, as both parts of the future joint are adhered with a sticky viscous fluid called ground substance, which is part of the dermal structure (Reed 1972). A carefully applied patch will stick around the edges of the developing hole and immediately stabilize the area. Even though the epidermis tissue is very thin when it is glued back on the skin, it creates an extraordinarily strong laminate, which can withstand further stretching of the skin on the frame. Since peeled skin is very thin, the parchment dries quickly. If the patch is properly smoothed, the repair can withstand the rising tension connected with the final drying of the parchment (Vnouček 2019, 2021).

This type of repair can be also found in purple Late Antique manuscripts (Rabitsch 2020). My own experiments with parchment dyeing have shown that even if the parchment with the epidermis patch repairs is re-moistened with purple dye during dyeing in the vat for several minutes, the patch is not affected at all, and the dye penetrates right through both layers.

When the parchment is completely dry, the epidermis tissue becomes transparent. Despite its extreme thinness, it is strong enough to be written or painted on. It is also interesting to observe the mutual reaction of the parchment and the applied epidermis patch in Late Antique manuscripts. The epidermis patch always partly deforms the surface of the repaired parchment, creating a specific form of undulation that is well visible, especially with the help of raking light (Figures 3 and 4).

Figure 3:

The parchment-making experiment.

(a) Dried epidermis patch on the hair side of the parchment (in raking light). (b) The flesh side of the parchment (in raking light). Notice how dried patch shapes the surface of the parchment. (c) The patch applied on the hole in the parchment that was later dyed purple.

Figure 4:

The Vienna Dioscorides.

(a) Epidermis patch partly covered by the illumination on the hair side of the parchment, folio 35v. (b) Identical epidermis patch seen from the flesh side of the parchment, folio 35r. (c) Epidermis patch completely covered by the illumination on the hair side of the parchment, folio 2v (d) Identical epidermis patch seen from the flesh side of the parchment, folio 2r.

Visual analyses of repairs of parchment in about twelve Late Antique manuscripts lead me to the conclusion that the application of patches has a purely functional character. It aims to stabilize the endangered area of skin during the stretching on the frame. The patches are only applied during the wet stage of the process. The assumption that application of patches is not an aesthetic decision is also supported by examples of patches prepared from an epidermis with much darker pigmentation than the parchment on which it was applied. The parchment maker most probably did not have enough time to match the colours properly (Figure 5).

Figure 5:

The Vienna Dioscorides.

(a) Remnants of unpeeled epidermis from skin of lamb with the dark hairs left on the lower margin of the folio 35v. (b) Epidermis patch from skin of lamb with the dark hairs applied on the folio 212v.

Spare removed epidermis can be pinned and stretched and left to dry so that it could be theoretically used for repairs on parchment in a dry stage. However, it would be necessary to use adhesive for this purpose, which would almost certainly leave some marks around the edges of the patch. I did not find any example of this potentially possible type of repair on parchment of the Late Antique manuscripts.

3.3 Epidermis Patches in Late Byzantine and Greek Manuscripts

Parchment of later Byzantine and especially Greek manuscripts from the 10th - 13th centuries differs from the quality of the parchment used in early Byzantine manuscripts, but also shows certain similar characteristics. Parchment was made of sheepskin during that period but most of it was prepared in a much coarser way and the parchment is often very thick and oily. However, patches for hole repair are sometimes made from recycled epidermis membrane. In manuscripts, folios made of very thin parchment may be intermingled with folios made of thicker parchment. It may be concluded that some steps in the preparation of parchment, including the splitting of sheepskins, had been preserved in a modified form in the Late Byzantine period. However, these random examples cannot be compared in quality and in scale of production with the Late Antiquity period.

3.4 Belly Button Repair

The belly button repair is another technique for repairing holes in thin parchment. It is carried out during the wet stage of parchment preparation before the skin is stretched on the frame. The area around the hole is first seized, twisted, and tied around with a thread that is firmly knotted. When the parchment is stretched, a specific pattern reminiscent of a belly button appears on the hair side of the skin around the former hole. An additional epidermis patch placed over the area of the newly created belly button very often completes the repair. The ground substance in the epidermis patch acts as natural glue that secures the knot as the skin dries. After the skin on the frame has dried, the hardened knot is trimmed off with a sharp knife and a typical circular cut remains on the surface of the flesh side of the parchment. The repaired area is never completely flat, due to the distortion caused by the twisting of the skin (Figures 6 and 7). If the knot is not tightened enough, the skin will be partially loosened when it starts to dry and contract on the frame, which leads to the creation of additional smaller holes around the knot (Figure 10).

Figure 6:

The parchment-making experiment. Two belly button repairs during the process.

(a) Two holes secured by knots on the flesh side of the wet parchment (before stretching). (b) Two secured holes seen on the hair side of wet parchment (before stretching). (c) One of the holes secured by an additional epidermis patch seen on the hair side of wet parchment (during stretching). (d) Final appearance of two holes secured by the belly button repairs on dry parchment.

Figure 7:

The parchment-making experiment: belly button repair.

(a) Securing the knot before the removal on the flesh side of dry parchment. (b) Appearance of the cut on the surface of parchment after the knot was trimmed away.

No matter how complicated or even bizarre this type of repair may seem, it definitely worked well for sealing the holes in very thin Late Antique parchment. The same method was used successfully for repairing long tears in parchment. In this case, a series of belly button knots were placed along the tear in a row. Although this repair did not completely seal the tear, it fulfilled its function and joined the two parts of the parchment together (Vnouček 2019).

It should be noted that holes and especially tears in thin Late Antique parchment could not be sewn with a thread. The sewing method, which was successfully used later in the Middle Ages to repair holes and tears in skins does not work with thin peeled lambskins. Damaged lambskin can be sutured, but each needle puncture creates additional holes that enlarge when the skin is subjected to tension on the frame. When the parchment dries, the new holes act as a perforated line that divides the parchment into two parts.

4.1 Conservation Treatment by Otto Wächter

In the 1960s, the manuscript received a very thorough restoration treatment by Otto Wächter at the conservation workshop of the Austrian National Library in Vienna. Folios were moistened and relaxed, stretched and sprayed with a consolidation solution, and missing parts of the folios were filled in with new parchment. Some of the original patch repairs of holes were reinforced by a layer of goldbeater’s skin (Wächter 1962).

In his article discussing the conservation of the manuscript, Wächter did not specifically describe the original method of parchment preparation, or the type of the animal skins used. He assumed that repairs of holes had been carried out using goldbeater’s skin which was applied with parchment glue on finished dry parchment as part of the preparation for writing and painting of the illustrations.

Conservation treatment of original hole repairs in Late Antique manuscripts is a specific problem. Due to the extent of conservation of the Vienna Dioscorides and drastic alteration that occurred to the parchment, it can be expected that almost none of the major original repairs of the parchment has been preserved completely intact. However, because a transparent goldbeater’s skin was used for mending holes, the result of the repair remains visually “transparent”. Due to the transparency of both materials, it is possible to distinguish the two individual layers of repairs. The new repair patches from goldbeater’s skin have mostly rectangular shapes and therefore do not conflict with the uneven shape of original patches prepared from epidermis tissue. In addition, the original epidermis patch is easily recognizable because it always contains partially visible hair follicle patterns, which is one of its typical features, while goldbeater’s skin, which is made from the appendices of cattle, is completely transparent and without any pattern on the surface. It seems that Wächter did not remove the damaged parts of original patches during his conservation treatment but only supported them with this new material. This can be seen at least in areas where parts of the illustrations (paintings of flowers) are preserved on the surface of the epidermis repair patches (Figures 9 and 10).

Figure 9:

The Vienna Dioscorides, folio 242.

(a) Detail of damaged original repair patch (the fragment with painting over it) reinforced by the goldbeater’s skin during the conservation treatment in 1960. Seen from the flesh side of parchment. (b) Damaged original epidermis patch (irregular triangular shape) was reinforced by a patch prepared from the goldbeater’s skin (deltoid shape). Seen from the hair side of parchment.

Figure 10:

The Vienna Dioscorides, folio 88v. Loose belly button repair which had opened up with small holes (seen from the hair side of parchment). The overlapping repair patch with goldbeater’s skin was applied during conservation treatment in 1960.

4.2 Problems with Conservation Treatment of Holes and Their Original Repairs

The empty holes on the folia of parchment manuscripts seem to have attracted the attention of bookbinders and later conservators for a long time. Covering complete and undamaged holes is a rather curious practice, as most of these imperfections are not harmful in terms of preservation. Perhaps this has to do with a change in aesthetic perceptions in a period when manuscripts were restored to look “even better” than when they were newly made. Some of these types of repairs might have been introduced during rebinding of manuscripts as early as the Renaissance and continued until almost the last quarter of the 20th century.

A major problem is the use of opaque parchment or paper patches typically using the full thickness of parchment, which partially obscure the evidence of the repair process (Vnouček et al. 2020, 44) (Figure 11)

Figure 11:

The Codex Bezae, Cambridge University Library, MS Nn.2.41., folio 199v. New opaque repair patch applied over the hole during conservation treatment by Sandy and Elizabeth Cockerell in years 1962–1965. The rest of the original epidermis repair patch is visible around the hole on the hair side of the parchment. Reproduced by kind permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library.

An even worse situation occurs when entire parchment folia are covered by various lamination methods, including the use of silk gauze (Figure 12a and b). There is no doubt that these types of conservation treatments, mostly executed in the 1960s, aimed at preserving the text, often heavily damaged by ink corrosion, but unfortunately, they were undertaken at all costs and often with counterproductive results. In addition to covering the holes and obscuring various traces of parchment production, the original appearance of the parchment surface, its natural flexibility and other important characteristics have been lost forever.

Figure 12:

Liber Pastoralis S. Gregorii, Troyes, Bibliothèque Municipale, MS 504, f. 26r.

(a) The belly button repair covered by the silk gauze after the conservation of manuscript in BNF in Paris in 1960. Flesh side of the parchment. (b) Despite the conservation treatment is still possible to observe that repaired area is never completely flat creating on the hair side of the parchment protrusion in the shape of little volcano.