BPG Parchment Condition Problems

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Book and Paper Group Wiki > Paper Conservation Wiki > Parchment Condition Problems

This page covers the condition issues that occur on parchment. See also: BPG Parchment, BPG Parchment Examination and Documentation, BPG Parchment Conservation Treatment, BPG Parchment Housing and Storage, and BPG Parchment Parchment Historic Treatment Methods and Materials.

Wiki Compiler: Cathie Magee
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Copyright 2025. The AIC Wiki is a publication of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC). It is published as a convenience for the members of AIC. Publication does not endorse nor recommend any treatments, methods, or techniques described herein. Information on researching with and citing the wiki can be found on the Reference and Bibliography Protocols page.

Cite this page:

American Institute for Conservation (AIC). "BPG Parchment Condition Problems." AIC Wiki. November 27, 2025. https://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/BPG_Parchment_Condition_Problems.

Parchment Support Condition Problems

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Surface grime

Surface grime comes in different forms. Books acquire so-called historic grime from use, generally appearing at the bottom corners of folios from the turning of pages by hand. These marks, likely the buildup of oils from skin and subsequent staining of the substrate, are important signs of the history of a book's use. Conservators generally do not attempt to remove these. Art historian Kathryn Rudy (2010) has attempted to quantify the accumulation of grime on manuscript folios by using a densitometer and correlate those values with the social value of certain folios.

More modern accumulations of dust and dirt are thought of as "museum grime" from days when objects were stored in more open conditions. These tend to be loose and can transfer to work surfaces, collection objects, or skin making contact. It is generally more acceptable to remove modern grime from parchment objects with dry cleaning. However, questions remain on whether removal of any grime may result in the removal of important evidence of the history of a book's location, such as from pollen samples.

Excisions

There are few treatments for an excision; even if the folio and fragment could be reunited, the fragment is unlikely to fit in its original spot due to dimensional changes caused by fluctuating environmental factors that differed from those experienced by the codex. The fragment may be stored in a folder or sleeve, or mounted in a window mat. The area of excision in the folio should be stabilized. Loose

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Tears

Tears in parchment folios and documents can occur due to handling at naturally thin or weak areas, or at areas weakened by repeated folding and unfolding.

Insect Damage

Insects such as X are usually attracted to the spine adhesive on parchment codex.

Risks: Snags

Continue tunneling through the wooden boards, compromising their structural stability.

Animal Waste

Fly specs and frass

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Delamination

The top layer of skin can peel off from layers below. This is most commonly seen in sheep parchment, where layers of fat within the skin create natural areas of separation.

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Water Damage

Mold

(See also BPG Mold)

Mold can be particularly damaging to parchment, causing severe staining of the skin and general breakdown of the collagen fiber structure. In cases of light to moderate mold attack the parchment may appear pock-marked, with small depressions in the surface of the skin and associated areas of staining. In severe cases the entire thickness of the skin may be degraded so that it appears very fibrous and pulpy and has no mechanical strength. It is rare for the entire surface of a parchment artifact to be damaged by mold; usually the damage is more localized and limited to areas that have been especially damp such as the edges and corners of single sheets. Particularly interesting examples of mold attack have been described by Boethy-Kozocsa (1987) in a group of illuminated parchment manuscripts that once belonged to Matthias Corvinus, a 16^th-century King of Hungary. These manuscripts were stored at one time in very damp conditions and in many cases the mold attacked only the blank areas of parchment and avoided the text which was written in a type of iron gall ink.

Mold removal should be carried out before any other treatment step to prevent further contamination. See BPG Parchment Conservation Treatment > Mold Remediation.

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Parchment Book Block Problems

Abrasion from loose quires

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Previous Repair Efforts

Original repairs and compensation are usually absent in fine art on parchment (i.e., paintings, drawings and prints) because the artist only needed a single sheet for his work and was therefore able to choose one of very high quality. On the other hand, a manuscript book, rolled document, or large map could require several or many sheets of parchment. The creator's choice of skin quality was often limited to availability or budget. In general, large manuscript books tend to have a greater number of original repairs than much smaller books. Custodians of books have always maintained their collections to keep them usable. Some repair attempts may have been successful at keeping the object together, but at the cost of compromising another aspect of its condition. Repairs from years back that no longer serve their purpose can be removed.

Reasons for removal include:

• The repair may be too stiff and causing the parchment substrate to crack;
• The repair has aged badly against the original parchment, and aesthetics are highly valued;
• The repair material covers text or an important portion of the artifact.
• Examples: a parchment patch is too large or too stiff; excessive adhesive was used and is too stiff; thread in a sewn repair is broken and needs to be redone

Reasons to NOT remove a repair include:

• The original parchment substrate is too delicate or damaged to withstand the physical stress of repair removal, such as mold degradation or perforation from acidic ink;
• The repair is "historic" and its presence adds value to the object;
• The repair material could be thinned or made smaller to function better;
• The repair is doing its job adequately, despite its age.
• Examples: a patch that has text or marginalia written over it; newer pressure sensitive tape over text may lift friable iron gall ink; a repair may be unattractive, but flexes well; a sewn repair that is modern, but stable.

Move this content: Past repair techniques were most likely executed using patches of new parchment or paper adhered with either a collagen-based adhesive or paste. It may be possible to remove the repair patch and the adhesive residue via lifting or scraping with hand tools. Otherwise, it may be necessary to locally humidify the repair by either direct application of an alcohol/water solution for small or paper repairs, or with damp blotter and polyester web and/or Gore-Tex. Once dampened, the adhesive residue can be removed.  

A variety of tapes are often found on parchment artifacts, used either as hinges for single manuscript leaves, prints, or drawings, or as repair materials. Gummed fabric tapes and glassine tapes usually respond well to moisture. These can often be safely removed using the same methods described for parchment and paper patches above.

Although most sewn repairs found on parchment artifacts tend to be contemporary with the object, executed either by the parchment maker or by the object creator, it is not unusual to find later sewn repairs. In some situations, distinguishing between an original and a later sewn repair may be difficult. Leaving sewn repairs in place is preferable so long as they are stable/can be stabilized and not damaging the object,

Sewn Repairs: Repairs to parchment were often done while the skin was still wet or damp, before it was dried on the frame. These types of repairs, sewn in a figure of eight pattern across the damaged area, can be recognized by the bunching up of the damp skin and the pulling on the sewing holes that would occur as the skin dried under tension (Clarkson 1992, Figs. 22, 23, 36, 37). Sewn repairs in dry skins were also carried out by the parchment maker or by the scribe at a later stage and would tend to look quite different, with the sewing holes still circular in shape and not extended (Clarkson 1992, Fig. 38). In both cases these repairs were most often done with linen thread, but sometimes silk thread or narrow strips of parchment were also employed. In cases where the available parchment sheet was of an irregular shape, due to its having been cut along the outer perimeter of the full skin, additional pieces would be attached to compensate for the irregularity. These pieces were usually secured by sewing with thread or parchment thongs. Sewing was also a common technique for the joining of multiple pieces of parchment to form a scroll. Both thread and a type of sinew or gut (in the case of Hebrew manuscripts) were used as sewing materials. (Certain types of medieval parchment documents made in scroll form often had textile or leather covers sewn onto the upper end. When the document was rolled up these covers would protect the object from damage during storage or transport.)

Patched Repairs: Patched repairs usually were carried out with a similar if not identical type of parchment as the original. Contemporary patches of transparent goldbeater's skin are much less common than parchment repairs although they have been recorded in some early manuscripts such as the 6th century Vienna Dioscurides (Wächter 1962, p.25). Original patches usually cover small holes that developed during the manufacturing process; it is assumed that they were attached with a collagen-based adhesive such as parchment size. Although these repairs could be performed by the parchment maker on the finished sheet, once it was removed from the frame, they were more likely to have been executed in the scribal workshop. In many cases final preparation of the surface (pumicing, chalking) would be done after the repairs were completed, thus making the scarfed joins that much more invisible (Clarkson 1992, Figs. 33, 34).

Fills or Compensation: Larger pieces of parchment are sometimes used to compensate for the irregular edge of a given sheet. These patches or “fills” are applied in the same manner as smaller patched repairs, by scarfing the overlapped areas and attaching the parchment piece with adhesive. Multiple pieces of parchment would often be joined to make one very large sheet, to be used for an architectural drawing or garden plan, or for a rolled document. These pieces of parchment were connected with overlapped adhesive joins which, although perfectly functional, would not always be as precisely executed as patches or joins found in medieval manuscripts

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Media Condition Problems

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Pigment

Flaking

Szirmai 2017, 124. importance of correct binding structure

Previous consolidation efforts

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Staining

(lead white, copper green, silver, brass)

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Iron Gall Ink

Fading, efforts to reverse ink fading

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References

Corrie, Rebecca W. 1982. "The Conradin Bible: Since 'Since De Ricci.'" The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 40: 13–24.

Fleck, Cathleen A., and Flora Ward. 2004. "More Pieces of the Conradin Bible Puzzle (W.152) Coming Together." The Journal of the Walters Art Museum 62: 199–202.

Non-Threatening Evidence of Use

Rudy, Kathryn. 2010. "Dirty Books: Quantifying Patterns of Use in Medieval Manuscripts Using a Densitometer." Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 2 (1-2).

Media Condition Problems

Pigment

Szirmai, J. A. 2017. "Conservation Bindings: Part 1 – Wooden Board Bindings." Journal of Paper Conservation 18 (4): 123–33.

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Bibliography

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History of This Page

This page was created in April 2022 when the Parchment page was updated.