Álvaro Vega I Córdoba, (EFE).- The workshop that revives the historical documents of Córdoba. The director of the Municipal Archive of Córdoba, Ana Verdú, observes the restorer Pilar Moriel treating a volume from 1599 and comments how “she sews it, with the same technique that was used at the time, she is truly resuscitating our documentary heritage.”
For Verdú, “Pilar is a ‘number one'” because “she turns into something” copies, like the one she currently has in the restoration workshop of the Municipal Archive of Córdoba, “which is not recoverable”, but ends up being so. Hence, for her it is a true resuscitation.
Pilar Moriel receives “very deteriorated books, which are many years old, which have gone through many catastrophes, termites and fungal attacks” and it corresponds to her, according to what she told EFE in the building attached to the Municipal Stadium of El Arcángel where the workshop has its headquarters, “to give them another function, for which they were, that they can take, read and safeguard” historical documents and last another five hundred years “.
Attacked by the elements and neglect
But to this idea of the miracle in the recovery of centuries-old papers attacked by the elements, and also by neglect in their custody, the restorer counters that “the process is not complicated, it is laborious, from cleaning the sheets, to washing , the reconstruction of losses, strengthening them, is monotonous and long, but, afterwards, it is very satisfying”.
“In Córdoba we have a brutal legacy that arrived in a very deteriorated state because until the 19th century, from 1300 we have documented the existence of the Archive, the chest of the three keys was kept in a lower cell of the convent of San Pablo and we have documents from the chief notary of the Cabildo, the equivalent of the current secretary general, saying that the documents rot”, Ana Verdú comments to EFE.
In the current processes, he clarifies, “it is made clear what restoration is, it cannot give rise to falsification, accompanied by exhaustive reports of the products used and how it is done”.
The intimate newspaper of the city
With so much legacy, the city has preserved since the Charter of Fernando III of 1249, “we prioritize the minute book because it is an intimate newspaper of the city, absolutely everything is collected, a misfortune, when someone wants to build a church, a plague…”.
The book that Pilar is holding in her hands are some capitular acts, which in Córdoba have been drawn up since before a pragmatic of the Catholic Monarchs made them mandatory in 1500. In 1479, recalls the director of the Archive, the notary of the Cabildo “already complains that the previous (books) have been stolen”.
In fact, in his opinion, “the history of Córdoba is not a novel, it has to have a documentary support and gaps are filled with things” such as the purchase of the deeds from the Concepción convent, or findings like others “of a land, which were signed and sealed by the notary”, points out Pilar Moriel, who found them as cardboard in the binding of a book that she restored.
He explains that they were forming part of the covers “to give it thickness, there was no cardboard like now, since glue from before dissolves with water like today, layers of paper are removed and you can find something of value”, as happened in that case.
Leaf by leaf, day by day
In the previous job, Pilar has invested five and a half months, “page by page, days of three and four pages,” she says, “the process is long,” the director notes about the recovery of historical documents.
First it is unbound, a sketch of booklets is made in which you can see how it is sewn, some have a loose sheet inserted, which is incorporated by means of a tab and if a sheet is missing it is also noted, the restorer specifies, because in the process ” nothing of the original is adulterated”, says Ana Verdúi.
Afterwards it is cleaned with different types of rubber, the healthiness of the inks is tested, “usually these inks do not go away, although some do, especially when there are texts with red,” says Pilar Moriel, “the ph is measured and in some large trays with a polyester fabric are protected to wash it, and in another it is placed in calcium hydroxide to give it alkalinity and raise the ph”.
Later, “in the drying cart it is uncovered for fifteen minutes so that the calcium hydroxide in contact with the air stretches the paper”, to pass it “to the light table where we give it the tails it has lost, we give it with very light wheat starch and, if we have to put tissue on it (which gives consistency to the paper, which allows it to be read and moved) it is time to paste it”.
Then comes the step of the grafts, which are made with Japan paper, which Pilar tints in different shades, since it is originally white, so that they resemble the color of the paper she is treating.
Bind to also keep
In another part of the workshop, the bookbinder Ana Olmo is in charge of the population registers, which “by law are in permanent custody,” says Ana Verdú, who also finds remains of termites and insects and some with losses, fruit, in this case, of its administrative use.
For Ana Verdú, “the restoration of the documents allows us to testify who we are today, for the recovery of the current administrative documents, and who we were and move forward safely in the future.”
Córdoba has had census registers since 1508 and “it is still the case that we are asked for census certifications,” he stresses, mainly due to inheritance issues, despite its computerization for decades.
Ana Olmo explains that, in her case, it is ironed with the thermal spatula, the cracks are also treated with tissue paper and Japan paper to reinforce the paper so that it can be left in condition for consultation and that, in any case, it is about “It’s something that looks very easy but requires a lot of work.” EFE