Bad bookworms: Precious library collection on Christian East risks ruin

[Dale_M]

I am not sure if people in this forum saw this depressing bit of news. Apparently, basic standards of book preservation have been ignored.

The Pontifical Oriental Institute has the best general collection in the world on Eastern Christianity.

It boasts some 184,000 volumes, including rare and precious imprints and manuscripts, documenting centuries of Eastern Christian culture in a multitude of languages.

But the library’s oldest and most valuable collections are in a serious state of degradation, including an extremely rare 1581 edition of the Ostrog Bible – the first complete Bible printed in Slavic.

catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1101184.htm

The collection has not been climate-controlled, leading to needless decay. In some cases the decaying books have been held fastened together with scotch tape or rubber bands. And… yes, bookworms have bored holes in some books.

 

[Madaglan]

This is really sad, although similar things happen in museums throughout the world. I read in a book recently about Egyptian museums: where even the museums are archaeological sites with all the basement stored pieces sinking into the ground.

The best thing to do is to digitally copy the artifacts and do one’s best to preserve the ones of greater historical and religious value.

 

[GEddie]

I am not sure if people in this forum saw this depressing bit of news. Apparently, basic standards of book preservation have been ignored.

catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1101184.htm

The collection has not been climate-controlled, leading to needless decay. In some cases the decaying books have been held fastened together with scotch tape or rubber bands. And… yes, bookworms have bored holes in some books.

Lamentably, funding limitations affect everybody.

If these items were in high demand, the deplorable conservation conditions would have been corrected long ago.

Hopefully now that it has been brought to light, they will be.

He is risen, ICXC NIKA

 

[5Loaves]

I hadn’t seen this. Thank you for posting it. With Fr. Archimandrite Taft making noise maybe things will improve. :byzsoc: