Evaluation of Materials and Techniques of a Nineteenth Century Hieratic Manuscript

This work deals with the study of an nineteenth century hieratic manuscript. In general, manuscripts used for liturgical purposes, are subjected to numerous degradation processes affecting their conservation state. This study aims in the evaluation of the manuscript’s preservation state, as well as the documentation of manufacturing materials and techniques, by employing complementary characterization methodologies: Infrared Thermography (IRT) was applied to investigate the bookbinding and revealed a former destruction and a non-proper restoration attempt; Optical Microscopy (OM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were performed for studying the fiber morphology of the manuscript’s pages at the microscopic scale; Scanning Electron Microscopy, equipped with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy detector (SEM–EDX), was used to obtain information about the elemental composition analysis of the inks.