Establishing the original order of the poems in Harward’s Almanac using paleography, codicology, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, and statistical analysis

This work presents the results of a transdisciplinary analysis performed on Harward’s Almanac (Dublin, 1666), an extremely rare volume currently housed in the National Library of Ireland. The uniqueness and historical value of the Almanac is related to the presence of nineteen handwritten poems, ent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Heritage science 2023-12, Vol.11 (1), p.265-265, Article 265
Main Authors: Biolcati, Veronica, Woolley, James, Lévêque, Élodie, Rossi, Andrea, Hoffmann, Anna Grace, Visentin, Andrea, Macháin, Pádraig Ó, Iacopino, Daniela
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
18th century
Chemistry and Materials Science
Codicology
Conservation
Handwriting
Hypotheses
Inks
Leaves
Manuscript studies
Materials Science
National libraries
Paleography
Poetry
Science
Self organizing maps
Spectrum analysis
Statistical analysis
University colleges
X ray fluorescence analysis
X-ray fluorescence
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Summary:This work presents the results of a transdisciplinary analysis performed on Harward’s Almanac (Dublin, 1666), an extremely rare volume currently housed in the National Library of Ireland. The uniqueness and historical value of the Almanac is related to the presence of nineteen handwritten poems, entered by an anonymous scribe. These record textually important English clandestine satire circulating anonymously in Dublin in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Following a comprehensive historical assessment, it appeared evident that the current order of leaves was incorrect. To reconstruct the correct order of the leaves, and hence the likely sequence in which the manuscript poems were inscribed, this study employed a codicological/paleographic analysis complemented by analytical (X-ray fluorescence, XRF) and statistical (Self Organizing Map, SOM) investigation. Specifically, point XRF analysis was carried out for each handwritten page of the Almanac, allowing identification of ink elemental compositions (iron-based ink) and successfully supporting the validity of historical hypotheses on the poems’ order of inscription. The statistical organization of XRF data by SOMs allowed easy bi-dimensional visualization of the data set (54 points) and identification of ink similarities, once more validating the historical assessment.
ISSN:2050-7445
2050-7445
DOI:10.1186/s40494-023-01107-y