Pay attention to book breeders and antique people: Did you know that some old manuscripts are totally fatal? In modern society, browsing books is totally safe, but for centuries, flipping through pages of individual books can have devastating health consequences because their creations are often used. The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore is digging out a little-known bibliography “If Books Can Kill,” looking at the dark and dangerous side of the manuscripts of illustrations and other texts.
This is not a large exhibition, but it is a versatile exhibition covering medieval booking technology and social life of science, books and contemporary conservation science. It also explores the life stories of illustrators that suffer from various diseases after being exposed to toxic materials.
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“When I first came to Walters, there were only four manuscripts created by women, and I was interested in women’s involvement in manuscripts,” Dr. Lynley Anne Herbert, who co-curated the exhibition, told Observer. “When I got it Clotsilde Missala manuscript illustrated by Clotsilde Coulaux, I found it surprisingly heavy. “When she asked the museum’s book protector why it was so heavy, she was told: “The heaviness comes from the beautiful creamy white, full of lead. ”
Neither Dr. Herbert nor the dealers of the book knew the book contained lead, a discovery prompted her to consider the possible impact of daily work with toxic materials on Kulao’s health. It turns out that a large number of medieval manuscripts contain toxic materials such as white lead and red mercury, which are common pigments used in Kulao Life (1878-1931). The exhibition reveals how scribes, artists and the book community use these and other toxic materials, and presents twenty-four examples of beautiful but dangerous manuscripts rarely showcased in the Walters Museum of Art’s extensive collection.
There are intercultural representations here, because Europeans are not the only ones who use pigments made of arsenic and other toxic substances. “If Books Can Kill” has a lot of geographical and chronological order – there are 19th century Elephant paper From Thailand, there are yellow and 15th century Armenian Gospels based on arsenic and vermilion pigments made of cinnabar.
The exhibition also provides rare behind-the-scenes observations to understand the work of conserving scientists. While some toxic substances can be identified visually, others can only be revealed through scientific testing. The exhibition’s protector-led video shows how portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) can be used to identify mercury in the shape of the heart that dots an illustration of a medieval manuscript.
“I’m a big fan of gloves, not only when dealing with these books, but really many other things,” conservation scientist Dr. Annette S. Ortiz Miranda, curating the exhibition with Herbert, told Observer. “Don’t touch any colored parts with clean hands. If all pages are completely covered with lead white, wear gloves.” Although closing books with dangerous illustrations is not dangerous, the levels of toxicity associated with books in different categories are different.
The conservation science focus of “If a book can kill” can be traced back to the unique history of the Walters Museum of Art. The Walters family and museums have long been interested in technical research. The agency’s conservation department was established in 1934, one-third of the United States, and in 2004, the museum’s science laboratory was established. There, conservation scientists work with projects in the collection to answer questions of origin, age and authenticity, and their discoveries constitute the content of the exhibition for visitors.
Dr. Herbert believes that the recently opened library is the museum’s “hidden gem.” She talks about the new exhibition space in medieval galleries. Walters’ collection of manuscripts is indeed important, and in fact, there are over 100,000 manuscripts from many cultures, from many cultures, 13,000 incunabula, from 1300 nigunabula (from printed books 1300 years ago) and 2,000 printed books and 2,000 printed books.
“If Books Can Kill” provides a whole new perspective on historical booking practices. It is common to appreciate the beauty of an illustrated manuscript, but consider what is. The curators assured us that it is completely safe to view toxic works in the faraway show and experts can handle them safely. As the museum points out to the humor on the placard: In putting this exhibition together, no curators, protectors or art handlers were hurt.
The Walters Art Museum will be exhibiting “If Books Can Kill” at the Walters Art Museum by August 3, 2025.
