They are sometimes the only remaining vestiges of certain medieval works: pieces of parchment reduced to fragments and hidden in the bindings of ancient books. If the heritage they contain seemed (almost) definitively disappeared, a new method, developed by a researcher from the University of Leiden (Netherlands), could make it possible to recover it. In the journal Fragmentology on December 20, 2024, associate professor of medieval English literature Thijs Porck describes how, using a camera, he managed to capture hidden texts in works from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Secrets in modern-day bindings
At this time, new parchment – made from specially treated animal skins – is expensive. So to avoid any additional expenses, bookbinders prefer to recycle existing materials. They turn to medieval manuscripts that are no longer considered useful or relevant; copies of obsolete religious texts, administrative documents or literary works. Strips of parchment are made from it, inserted in the covers or between the notebooks to solidify their new books.
When these are found restored (and sometimes dismantled) by historians and conservators, their rediscovery is today a valuable source of information on the Middle Ages. But many of these fragments remain invisible or fragmented, hidden in the bindings. This is where the method of the project nicknamed “FragmEndoscopy” could change the situation, using a simple endoscopic camera.
Basically, this microscopic camera is intended for the inspection of gun barrels. However, its small diameter and mirrors made it particularly suitable for a type of “keyhole surgery” – which, in medicine, allows a person to be operated on using small incisions rather than a large opening . The principle is ultimately exactly the same for an old book, “explored” without being damaged.
A revolution in the study of manuscripts?
Professor Thijs Porck thus explored the recesses of several publications from the 16th and 17th centuries, preserved at the library of the University of Leiden and at the North Holland Archives in Haarlem. The images (screenshots) obtained from the camera videos were, using information tools, put together like a puzzle to create a complete view of the medieval fragments reused as reinforcements in their bindings.
This research proved fruitful, since its author managed to bring to light pieces of parchment in Middle Dutch, spoken in the Netherlands and in the north of Belgium between 1150 and 1500. Or even, a fragment probably from a religious or liturgical manuscript from the 14th century, accompanied by musical notes.
The so-called “FragmEndoscopy” technique is distinguished by its effectiveness, but also by its character “practical and affordable”indicates Thijs Porck in a press release. Previous approaches to examining hidden fragments – or detecting possible palimpsests, texts erased and rewritten over them – relied on the use of X-rays, expensive equipment and time-consuming processes. An endoscopic camera, which is much less expensive, should allow images to be obtained in just a few minutes.
