Universität zu Köln

Rafiyenko, Dariya (2017). Tracing: A Graphical-Digital Method for Restoring Damaged Manuscripts. In: Kodikologie und Paläographie im Digitalen Zeitalter 4 – Codicology and Palaeography in the Digital Age 4, pp. 121-135. Norderstedt: Books on Demand. ISBN 978-3-7448-3877-1

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Abstract

Different kinds of graphical properties of manuscripts such as layout, marginalia, handwriting or text decorations are crucial for the palaeographic and philological analysis thereof. These properties help to locate the manuscript in time and space, as well as enhance the philological analysis of the text. However, in the case of ancient historical documents, this can be considerably impeded by various kinds of damages such as deterioration, erasure, moulds, fading, staining or overwriting, just to name a few. The aim of this paper is to provide a new and handy method for digital reconstruction referred to as Tracing that allows quite accurate reconstructing of the original graphical appearance of a damaged manuscript without requiring considerable technical expertise. Tracing is a non-invasive method that crucially relies on high-resolution digital images of the manuscript. Its application is illustrated here on the basis of the palimpsested manuscript Vaticanus graecus 73. Tracing was employed in order to restore the earlier, underlying text layer (scriptio inferior) on 12 folios or 24 pages. The results are quality images of the reconstructed manuscript pages that faithfully render the graphical properties of the original. These images may immediately be used for palaeographical and philological analyses.