A Timeline of Analytical Techniques for Characterization and Treatment of Iron-gall Ink – A Brief Overview of the Last Two Decades

Authors

  • Antonio Carlos Augusto da Costa Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, PPG-EQ, R. S. Fco. Xavier 524, Maracanã, 20550-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins, R. General Bruce 586, São Cristóvão, 20921-030, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
  • Fernanda do Nascimento Corrêa Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins, R. General Bruce 586, São Cristóvão, 20921-030, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
  • Gustavo de Souza Sant’anna Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins, R. General Bruce 586, São Cristóvão, 20921-030, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Keywords:

Iron gall ink, Characterization, Treatment, Stabilization, Analytical detection.

Abstract

An extensive review of the published literature about the iron-gall inks was done based on searches in the main scientific publications dealing with cultural and historical heritage, chemistry, physics and paper conservation. What could be observed from this search, performed for the last two decades, is that this field faced high and low movements that contributed for the present stage of development in the preservation of documents containing iron gall inks. The search performed was divided into five distinct periods: the start of the development of studies of iron gall ink documents; the search for non-destructive techniques to understand the chemical composition of the ink; the improvement of analytical instrumental analysis; the consolidation of international groups dealing with the matter of paper conservation; and, finally, the worry and drawbacks for a practical application of the accumulated scientific knowledge. Some final considerations about interdisciplinarity in the field are also presented.

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2017-05-18

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da Costa, A. C. A., Corrêa, F. do N., & Sant’anna, G. de S. (2017). A Timeline of Analytical Techniques for Characterization and Treatment of Iron-gall Ink – A Brief Overview of the Last Two Decades. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences, 31(1), 249–264. Retrieved from https://asrjetsjournal.org/index.php/American_Scientific_Journal/article/view/2931

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