Traditional materials.

The most traditional materials in our modern western libraries and archives are parchment and paper. Although the first one is out of use as writing material nowadays, the second one still represents an important portion of all recording substrates.

Parchment is believed to have been developed in Asia Minor in the 2nd century B.C. as a substitute for papyrus, which availability was being withheld on purpose by Ptolemaeus of Egypt. Its use was, at a later time, readily adopted by the Christian Church, which was looking for a more suitable material for their religious scriptures as opposed to papyrus. The codex form favoured by the Christian Church consisted of folded leaves, which made text comparison much more easy. So parchment and the codex form became integral parts of western Christian civilization.

Parchment was made from the skin of different animals. The animals used for producing the skins were living in the immediate neighbourhood: sheep, calf, pig, donkey and even wild animals. The finest parchment was mainly used for writing manuscripts and for producing legal documents Lesser qualities for also used for binding books.

Parchment manuscripts were being made at least until the second half of the 16th century. For legal use it was used up to the 19th century and it is still marginally used for binding, calligraphy and restoration nowadays.

Parchment is susceptible to damage caused by changes in temperature and humidity, light, chemical pollutants and abuse by users. Lots of manuscripts have deteriorated over time. Some are still in very good condition. For these items preservation is top priority.

Although fragments of early paper have been found which are dated 2nd century B.C., it is believed that a better quality paper became manufactured in the 1st century A.D. in China. The Chinese obviously kept the technique of paper production to themselves since it was only in the 7th century that the technique became known in Japan. The Arabs got to know it in the 8th century. They recognized its potential and in 200 years the technique swept through Arabia into southern Spain in the 10th century A.D.

Since it was used by the Mores, Christianity did not want it and one even tried to forbid the use of it in certain Christian states. But since paper was economically so interesting, cheap and easy to make compared to parchment, it was impossible to halt its march. The first mill on European grounds was in Xativa (Spain) mid 11th century, still owned by the Arabs. The first mill in Italy was Fabriano (1276 A.D.) From there it spread over the whole of Europe. The availability of paper made the birth of printing techniques possible and desirable.

Western paper before 1840 was made of rags and is therefore called rag-paper. It is high-quality paper, mould made, which is quite resistant to time if kept in good conditions. Because demands in paper grew enormously, rags could not provide the necessary raw materials for papermaking and alternatives were sought.

One usable alternative was wood, but since wood contains lignin and other unsuitable products, paper made from wood deteriorates from within. Newspaper is the best example of this kind of paper. Later new chemical processes produced so-called wood-free paper, which means that the internal contaminants have been removed.

Paper, and more specifically lignin containing paper, deteriorates under influence of light, U.V. ­radiation, changes in temperature and humidity, chemical pollutants, ink corrosion and biological attacks by micro-organisms, fungi and insects. But most damage is done by man, who destroys books and prints and other items by using and abusing them, by photocopying and even by burning them.