Aging analysis of a color facsimile binding for the 14th century manuscript “Registro Notarial de Torres”

The re-use of older documents or parts of books to make covers for archive documents has been common practice throughout the history of books. Such is the case with the 14th Century Registro Notarial de Torres, the binding of which is a fragment of a parchment belonging to a Visigothic codex of extreme historical value. In this work, it was decided that the parchment binding of the notarial register should be conserved as a separate document, replacing it with a color facsimile. The article discusses the accelerated aging tests to determine the stability of the materials used in producing the facsimile. Differences in color, pH, and ink transfer were evaluated. The original appearance of the manuscript was successfully retained using the optimum choice of materials, and the fragment of parchment used as its original binding was preserved, thus safeguarding its physical integrity and its aesthetic and artifactual value. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.