Within the Latin American Library at Tulane, one of the many treasures is the Mapa de la provincia de Sotuta within the Yerbas y hechicerias del Yucatan manuscript. The fragility of the map itself was directly caused by the advanced deterioration of the iron gall ink—so much so that the curator was increasingly unable to permit researcher access to it for fear of causing irreparable damage.
The map was carefully removed from the manuscript codex and the ink tested at multiple places for solubility. It was then washed in a mild alkaline solution, lined with congruous plant-based adhesives and tissue, and placed in a mylar sleeve separate from the manuscript at the curator’s request.
Another page in the manuscript, in particular, was damaged through both ink deterioration and insect damage, making it extremely unstable and difficult to turn without incurring further damage. The page was removed, repaired in a similar way to the map (although without washing), and returned to the codex. Many other repairs, including to the binding itself, completed the treatment of the manuscript.
The Yerbas y hechicerias del Yucatan manuscript and the Sotuta map can be found here:
https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A19305
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