26/12/2007

"Modern tanning chemistry" by Covington (1997)

Covington, A.D.; "Modern tanning chemistry", Chemical Society Reviews 26 (1997) 111 - 126
DOI: 10.1039/CS9972600111

Abstract: 
The range of chemistries used for tanning leather is reviewed; traditional methods of tanning are explained and the newer processes are described. The areas of tanning include: vegetable tanning with plant polyphenols, mineral tanning with metal salts, in particular chromium(III), oil and aldehyde tannages, synthetic tanning agents and organic tannages based on natural polyphenols or synthetic organic oligomers. The fundamental nature of the tanning reaction and the origin of hydrothermal stability are discussed.

20/12/2007

The Archimedes Palimpsest Project

The Archimedes Palimpsest 

The Archimedes Palimpsest is a medieval parchment manuscript, containing 174 parchment folios. As it exists now, the manuscript is a prayer book. This prayer book was completed by April 1229, almost certainly in Constantinople. However, to make their prayer book, the scribes used parchment that had already been used for the writings of other books. Firstly, and most importantly, they used a book containing at least seven treatises by Archimedes.
The manuscript was discovered in 1906 by J.L. Heiberg and it was in private hands throughout much of the twentieth century. The manuscript was bought at auction by an anonymous American collector who deposited the book at The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (USA), for conservation, imaging, and scholarly study, in January 1999. A very interesting website was designed to give information on the Palimpsest and on the progress of the project in general.


"The Archimedes Palimpsest Project" Video (2006, 1h 4m long)
:

17/12/2007

The art of tanning and of currying leather by De Lalande (1773, English edition by Royal Dublin Society)

Texto não disponível



And the original French book "L'art du tanneur, du chamoiseur, du mégissier, du corroyeur, du parcheminier, de l'hongroyeur, du maroquinier" is available at: http://cnum.cnam.fr/fSYN/4KY58.3.html

16/12/2007

Vegetable calf leather for bookbinding conservation by the National Library of France (2006)

Barbe, C.; Aubry, T.; Nguyen, T.; Juchauld, F.; “La sélection d’un cuir de tannage végétal destiné à des traitements de restauration de livres anciens : une étude en cours à la Bibliothèque Nationale de France”, International Preservation News 39 (2006) 4-8

This paper is also published in English with the following title: “Selecting a quality vegetable calf leather for the conservation treatments of old and valuable Books: an on-going research led by the National Library of France (BnF)”.

10/12/2007

Interactive "Tollund man" by Susan K. Lewis, NOVA (2006)

"Tollund man" by Susan K. Lewis, NOVA (2006)
URL



More information about the Tollund man can be found at:

09/12/2007

The fascinating bog bodies by Jenny Dente (1997)


Os corpos humanos encontrados naturalmente preservados em ambientes de turfeira constituem achados arqueológicos extraordinários. O caso mais conhecido é, provavelmente, o Lindow man do Museu Britânico. Estes corpos apresentam a pele e outros tecidos  geralmente bem preservados devido à conjugação de vários factores físico-químicos que se encontram descritos online por Jenny Dente.

The bog bodies are extraordinary archaeological finds. Lindow man, one of The British Museum highlights, is probably the best known case.
Skin and other tissues are usually well preserved due to a combination of different factors which can be found described online by Jenny Dente.

04/12/2007

An online Japanese armour manual by Anthony J. Bryant

Bryant, A. J. ; An online Japanese armour manual (2001)
http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/katchu/index.html

As armaduras japonesas são objectos complexos que podem ter na sua composição vários materiais obtidos a partir da pele animal, como diferentes tipos de cabedais ou pele crua.
No manual da autoria de Anthony Bryant estão descritos detalhadamente os vários elementos constituintes de uma armadura japonesa bem como os materiais utilizados na sua construção.