Author Description

Parchment in the form of manuscripts, scrolls, charters, book covers and substrata for artworks, makes a major contribution to the most valuable objects of European cultural heritage. Large collections exist in varying degrees of preservation in public and private libraries, archives, museums and in diverse religious foundations. The degradation of parchment involves the decay of the intact fiber structure through different stages of alteration to a terminal stage when the fiber structure is close to complete disintegration. The contributions in this volume represent the main achievements of the European joint project on parchment "Methods in the Microanalysis of Parchment" sponsored by the European Commission