The TSU Research Library has completed restoration of a book monument: a German document of the 15th century. Over more than a month, TSU specialists and Moscow colleagues restored a certificate on the right to lands, issued in 1419 in Hamburg. In addition, they created a special case for the storage of the document. Now the historians have begun working with the document, and later its full text and a digital copy will be presented in the Electronic Library of TSU.
- The document is a letter written on a thin, light parchment. Initially, the certificate was kept in folded form. Only two seals of the four were kept. They were separated from the parchment straps and split into several parts, - says Marina Savchenkova, director of the Regional Center for Document Conservation of the TSU Research Library. - Because of the fragility of the document, there was a high probability of further destruction. In addition, mold created biodegradation of the document.
The book monument has demanded a full complex of restoration measures. The instaurators carried out biological studies on the activity of the mold, conducted physical and chemical studies of the composition of seals, and eliminated deformation of the document. They also had to fill in the lost base and glue the gaps, select and connect fragments of the destroyed seals, and carry out their restoration and conservation.
Instaurators have taken care of the further storage of the document. They have developed a case with a special design, with special compartments-cells for seals so that the ancient document can be stored as long as possible in a restored form.