Patricia Engel: Deletions in manuscripts: What may they tell the historian, and how can traces of deletions in manuscripts during a conservation/restoration act be treated?

Various reasons lead to deletions in manuscripts. Various methods and techniques have been used to get rid of a text or picture in manuscripts made of papyrus, parchment or paper. Sometimes it was parts of the text were erased, in other cases entire books were made into palimpsests or maculatura. The reasons for such deletions were many, among them political, linguistic, religious and artistic. Also the decision of how further to use the material must have been different. In some cases the paper was reused for writing on, while some were reused for book bindings. Every case needs to be examined individually.

The contribution first summarizes what deleting material and methods were available in Europe from the 1st century until 1500. This information is brought together from the painter´s manuals and source literature written in this period and available locally or all over Europe.

The deleting methods were recreated and the traces the different methods leave on the various text carriers were produced. This enables us to see the deletions in the historical manuscripts and to judge what method was applied to delete the original text.

Then the contribution attempts an interpretation for the historian: What do the traces, both the knowledge about the material and the method applied tell us in terms of circumstance and environmental conditions of the deleting actions. Was a fast or a more appropriate slow but good method chosen for a valuable book? What text was deleted how and with what results? Examples are given: The Ratmann Sacramentary is taken as one example. It carries not only traces of being written in 1159 and then deleted and newly written in 1400 but also shows various qualities of deletions sometimes on the same page and finally shows attempts at making the first text readable, which was attempted by the famous researcher Tischendorf, who however spoiled the pages in doing so in the 19th century. The questions arising are: Why were the deletions made? Why were different styles applied and why were the results so different in quality? – Is it linked to having to create a legitimization via the material? And finally, how should we deal with the ugly stains Tischendorf caused?

This leads to the 3rd part of the contribution: The concrete recommendations on how to deal with various deletions and their traces in the cause of a conservation-procedure.