Announcement on the Conservation-Restoration Treatment of Karaim Books

Małgorzata Pronobis-Gajdzis

Abstract

In 2013 and 2014 Professor Elżbieta Jabłońska and Małgorzata Pronobis-Gajdzis, Ph.D. carried out conservation work on Karaim manuscripts and old prints. Both projects were organised by the Polish Karaims Association and financed by the Polish Ministry of Culture and Cultural Heritage. Objects were chosen for conservation and restoration treatment based on an assessment of the condition of the whole collection of old prints and manuscripts from private collections, prepared by Magdalena Dalke, M.A. Books earmarked for conservation were in very poor condition. Above all else, they were very dirty. Some of them had suffered considerable mechanical damage. The condition of the codices required immediate conservation treatment. In 2013 five items underwent conservation and restoration work and nine others in 2014. The main purpose of the treatment was to combat destructive processes damaging the materials and to secure them against further deterioration. Such intervention significantly improved the condition of the books and prints as well as their aesthetics and value as exhibits. Restoring the functional value of these books required extensive intervention in their structure and constituent parts. Their aesthetics were improved without resorting to what might be termed essential “aestheticizing” methods. All the books and prints have been digitalized. This will ensure that researchers can access them for academic purposes while at the same time limiting physical contact with such artefacts to a minimum.