RE: VMs: RE: Yet another page

["GC" <glenclaston@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Nick,

No, we're obviously not discussing the same artifact, as I view your list.
My list, to clarify:

Plant imprint
2r-2v  2r imprinted on 2v - bleed "through"
3r-3v  both sides, but 3r more "dense" on 3v than vice versa
4r-4v  4v much more dense on 4r than vice versa
5r-5v  5r dense 5v light
6r-6v  5r light 6v dense
7r-7v  7r light 7v light
8r-8v  8r light 8v dense
9r-9v  9r dense 9v light
10r-10v 10r dense 10v light
11r-11v 11r light 11v light
13r-13v 13r light 13v light

The list goes on, but in the end a far greater number of "dense" pages turn
out to be rectos than versos, after taking into account the amount of dark
shading in each plant figure, and therefore the density of the coloring.
This would tend to indicate that this occurred after the book was bound,
probably caused by moisture over a period of time, and that the book was
placed on its front cover laying flat for an unknown (and probably extended)
period of time, not sitting on a shelf upright.  That it was protected from
direct moisture, but not from seasonal damp.

I did this study some time ago, but never felt a need to write it up,
thinking it was an obvious feature of the VMS.  I also once pondered that
the lighter bleed-through on the verso side might mean that the book was
laid face up for awhile, then moved, and eventually came to rest face down.
That would be pure speculation.  Gravity however, would overcome capillarity
action, etc., and make the transfer operate in more of a "down" direction,
causing the particles to fill pores in the vellum in a downward manner, and
with damp provide a path of least resistance downward.  It wouldn't overcome
all capillarity, so some "upward" transfer is possible.  This all depends on
size and density of the "color" particles in the ink and water-colors
involved.

This is of course an amateur forensic observation, and a fuller examination
of this phenomenon might yield much greater detail.

GC








> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-vms-list@xxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-vms-list@xxxxxxxxxxx]On
> Behalf Of Nick Pelling
> Sent: Friday, July 25, 2003 6:23 AM
> To: vms-list@xxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: RE: VMs: RE: Yet another page
>
>
> Hi GC,
>
> At 19:38 24/07/2003 -0500, GC wrote:
> >Nick wrote:
> > > I'm quite sure (from all the subtle bleed-across) that the
> folios in the
> > > first quire are in the same order that they were in when it was
> > > painted up
> > > - from that, I infer that they're probably in the correct order.
> <...snip...>
> >In addition, we must also consider that the majority of the
> "bleed-through"
> >was a factor of time and repeated changes of seasons, i.e, some damp
> >involved.  At least 200 years on a shelf or in a box, never opened, may
> >account for transfers seen in this mss that are not visible in
> "better read"
> >manuscripts of the same age.  In fact, the "bleed-through" in the VMS is
> >rare as manuscripts go, even at an age of 500 years, give or take.
>
> Are we talking about the same thing here? I'm talking about colours
> bleeding *across* pages, not *through* pages.
>
> As examples, I'd point to:-
> f3v - f4r       curve at top
> f4v - f5r       spot at top
> f5v - f6r       transfer 25% down
> f6v - f7r       symmetrical smudge in centre
> (f13v - f14r    old binding marks down centre?)
> f19v - f20r     three flowers at top
> f26v - f27r     transfer from top right to top left
> f29v - f30r     faint transfer at top
> f31v - f32r     flowers at top
> f32v - f33r     flower 25% down by edge (note - between quires!)
> f44v - f45r     parallel mark 25% down ?
> f49v - f50r     flower at top
> f55v - f56r     shapes near top (overlapping text)
> f94v - f95r1    three shapes near centre
>          (note that this points to the page being "concertina-ed" rather
> than folded in)
>
> These all:-
> (1) appear only on herbal pages
> (2) tend to be near the top or near the central binding gutter
> (3) appear not to coincide with any apparent water marks or damage to the
> vellum
>
> My interpretation of these is that some (if not all) of the painting was
> done after binding (or, at least, after arranging into quires and loosely
> binding).
>
> Caveat #1: I don't have colour references for most of these
> pages, so can't
> tell if all this bleed-across is associated with particular colours.
>
> Caveat #2: I also can't tell if the exact positions of these bleed-across
> transfers is coincident with the binding as we see it today - if it is,
> then we can be reasonably sure that (at least some) painting was done
> post-binding.
>
> One hypothesis that might tie this all up could be that the so-called
> "heavy painter" painted *after* binding, but the rest of the painting was
> done *before* binding. We'd probably need colour pictures (and a proper
> study of the binding in situ) to determine whether this was the
> case, though/
>
> Cheers, .....Nick Pelling.....
>
> PS: f93v appears to have some bleed-across from the last page of the
> missing quire 16 - it looks as though (the last page of) the
> missing quire
> 16 was also a herbal! :-o
>
>
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