Luz Díaz Galán: Conservation of a selection of Islamic manuscripts from the National Library of Spain

The National Library of Spain (Biblioteca Nacional de España) has an interesting collection
of some 667 Islamic manuscripts. They are of various origins and date from different times, so they form a varied whole because of their contents and their different materials. There are oriental manuscripts with the typical characteristics of Islamic paper and bindings. Several of the manuscripts are from El Magreb, they are written on European paper and have a different type of binding. It is interesting to observe a group of bindings that combine Oriental with European elements.

Several manuscripts in this collection show an advanced state of deterioration, so they require a meticulous conservation treatment, which in the worst cases serves to prevent their complete destruction. A group of the most deteriorated manuscripts has been selected for the conservation process. In this study, all the intervention will be considered. For this complicated work, it has been necessary to define the characteristic typology of each book and the process which cause its deterioration, remembering always that each book is a whole.

With the examination of each of these highly deteriorated manuscripts, the most important factors of degradation of cellulosic support have been determined: On the one hand, the high level of humidity associated with biological damage by fungi and microorganism; and on the other hand, the metaloacid ink corrosion. All the negative effects of these factors put together have caused severe chemical and physical-mechanical damages in the paper. These damages could completely destroy the cellulose support. The study of the damages of the bindings is also necessary. Chemical deterioration of the skin and physical-mechanical deterioration of the structures is important. In several cases, the binding are completely lost.

So the principal objectives of this conservation treatment are:
• Stabilizing the process of degradation of the cellulose support.
• Recovering the physical strength of the paper.
• Recovering the original bindings; when this is impossible, a suitable conservation binding will be made.

So through this treatment, the select Islamic manuscripts from the National Library of Spain can be used again, thus making their intellectual content accessible.