Annotation, transcription and comparison are all features that make it easier to use images in a digital library for research purposes, such as note-taking, the digital transcription of a handwritten text and the simultaneous comparison of several images.
Block letters : in typography (which encompasses all the techniques used to reproduce texts through printing), a block or type (movable, letterpress or print) is a small element, made from wood or lead, which is coated in ink before being pressed onto a medium, usually paper, to leave its imprint.
Bookbinder : a craftsperson who assembles folios into quires, sewn together to form a codex. The bookbinder then covers the text block to protect it. This process results in a complex mechanical structure that has evolved over the centuries, adapting to the ways books are used and to how we read. In some cases, depending on the social status of the owner and the value of the book, the binding might be decorated, in a show of refined craftsmanship that endures to this day.
Cabochon, centrepiece and bosses : a cabochon is a stud with an ornate head which, when placed in the middle of the left board, is called a centrepiece, and a boss when placed in one of the corners of the plate. Cabochons were used to decorate monastic bindings in particular, before gradually disappearing in the late 15th century, when books began to be stored upright on library shelves, rather than laid flat on lecterns.
Card board : with the advent of paper and, by extension, cardboard, wooden boards were replaced by card ones. Their thickness allows them to protect the text block in the same way as wooden boards; as they are lighter, they also make the book easier to transport.
Climate : in conservation, refers to all the natural phenomena that determine the state of the atmosphere in an enclosed space. Variations in air temperature and humidity have a particularly key influence on the conservation of collections: the greater and more rapid the variations, the faster the materials deteriorate.
Codicology : the science of studying manuscript books as objects. The codicological study of a manuscript therefore focuses on the techniques used to make it and the nature of the materials used, their interactions and what they produce. It also analyses any incidents that have occurred in relation to the book over the years, such as alterations to the bindings, changes to the decoration, the addition of notes, plates or pages, gaps, tears or lost folios, etc. This is a complementary discipline to palaeography, which focuses on writing and its material aspects.
Cold stamping : this technique consists of pushing a tool (mainly an iron, roller or plate), which has first been heated, onto the leather cover of a book, leaving an indented, often burnished impression on the surface. The earliest known stamped leather bindings in Western Europe date from the Carolingian period, but this style of decoration reached its peak in the 15th and 16th centuries. The small branding irons that had been widely used up until this point were gradually replaced by rollers and plates.
Cover : in the final stages of the bookbinding process, the boards and spine of the book are covered with a material known as the cover. This can be made of leather, parchment, paper or textile.
Data standard : a set of technical specifications that establish common rules for exchanging data.
Documentary computing : covers all IT applications linked to documentation, an activity that involves collecting, processing and disseminating information, whatever the medium, in order to meet the requirements of users.
Engraving : a term encompassing all the artistic, artisanal and industrial techniques that involve making an incision to produce an image, text or any other inscription in a given medium.
Format : in computing, refers to the way in which digital information is encoded. There are several image formats, the most common of which are JPEG and TIFF, although JPEG is actually a compression method.
Gold tooling : a technique used to decorate the covers of books. It differs from cold stamping in that metal leaf – often gold – is applied between the tool and the leather.
Illumination : hand-painted decoration used to illustrate a manuscript. Illuminations are highly varied and are referred to as “historiated” when they depict a scene (a religious episode or a scene from everyday life, for example). They can also be intricately decorated initials.
Leather : animal skin to which a tanning treatment is applied to prevent it from decomposing. This physico-chemical process uses tannins (plant or mineral substances) to improve the skin’s resistance to water and heat.
Lithography : a printing technique used to create and reproduce multiple copies of a design.
Manuscript : a document written by hand.
Negative film : negative film records an image, in colour or black and white, by inverting the polarity of the colours and brightness.
Paper: a medium for writing made from plant fibres. Paper pulp was first obtained from rags, then from shredded wood. The sheet of paper was formed on a frame, then pressed to remove excess water and finally dried before it could be used.
Parchment/Parchment maker : just like leather, parchment is made from a skin, but the production process is different. After being cleaned of any flesh and fat, the skin is placed under high tension on a frame to dry. The skin is then thinned and refined in order to obtain a smooth, even white surface for writing on. These skins are used for a variety of purposes, including writing. The parchment maker is the craftsperson who makes these skins.
Photo library: a physical and/or digital library of photographs and images. These are described using keywords or a thesaurus to make them easy to find. Today’s digital tools allow us to archive and disseminate them easily.
Print: document reproduced in series using movable type (typography) or by transfer onto plates (offset, photocomposition).
Quire: in the traditional process for producing a handwritten or printed document consisting of several pages (book, administrative register, etc.), a quire is made by folding – and possibly inserting – a leaf. The various quires are then assembled and bound to form the final book. This technique stems from the development of the codex, a parallelepipedal book that followed on from the rotulus, or roll. First made using parchment and then paper to create manuscripts, it has been adopted and perfected in the world of printing.
Relative humidity: refers to how much water the air actually holds compared to the amount it can hold in a given space. It is expressed as a percentage (%) and is dependent on temperature and pressure.
Reversal film : reversal film, known as “slide film” or “Ektachrome”, makes it possible to look at an image directly, without colour inversion, on a light table or by projection, unlike negative film.
Silver-based medium : film composed mainly of light-sensitive silver grains or crystals. This physical property led to the invention of photography in the mid-19th century.
Tawer/Tanner : craftspeople who transform skins into leather. Small skins – lamb, sheep, goat – were traditionally prepared by tawers, while tanners prepared larger skins (cow, calf, etc.). The French term for tawer, “mégissier”, comes from “mégis”, a mixture of water, ash and alum in which the skins were soaked.
Unicum or “single” in Latin : a unicum refers to an archaeological or historical object known today as the sole specimen, although it may have been produced in series. A manuscript is a de facto unicum: it is copied by hand and, in the case of the most ornate examples, decorated in a unique way according to the inspiration of the illuminator. In the case of printed books, there are a number of elements that can make a book unicum: a specific printing feature (the addition of engraved plates, the colouring of certain plates or decorative elements), the opulence of the binding decoration, etc. The ex-libris – a label or mark affixed inside the book by its owner, claiming it as their property – and/or the annotation of the text also make the book unique.
Volatile organic compounds : a multitude of volatile substances emitted by construction materials, furniture, various products used in treatment and decoration, cleaning products, etc. Some of these substances are harmful to heritage objects, as well as to the environment and to humans.
Wooden board : until modern times and the advent of cardboard, thick, sturdy wooden boards were used to protect the hand-copied text block. Text blocks and boards were assembled to form a codex. To protect them, the boards were covered with leather.
