Adair Chantbook Project

Phase 1: 2014-2016

Abstract

The University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Missouri libraries house documents from the 10th-16th centuries that provide excellent opportunities for engagement with a world-wide community of scholars seeking to understand the technologies and aesthetic principles of early book production. A promising approach to the study the books' physical aspects utilizes multispectral analysis techniques. The core UMKC faculty of our recently expanded research team received funding in 2013 from the National Endowment for the Humanities and UMRB to build an imaging infrastructure for multispectral analysis of early printed books. With IDIC support, we will test the capabilities of this infrastructure with handwritten and hand-decorated materials that provide a more challenging set of questions that can be answered through multispectral imaging. Further, existing technologies for multispectral analysis are generally too expensive for research libraries to afford. Our aim is to develop a mechanical apparatus for analyzing fragile manuscripts and books that can be produced at much lower cost than existing equipment. With IDIC support, we would be able to refine and improve the apparatus with an eye towards the eventual licensing of this technology as an option that would be affordable for a wider variety of institutions that hold manuscripts and early printed books.

Results

The project had two goals: 1) to study rare handwritten books held by the UMKC and MU libraries using techniques of multispectral analysis and 2) to develop an affordable mechanical apparatus and techniques for its use that other libraries can adopt to advance the study of their own collections.

Both goals were achieved in that we have a hand-built system and that we were able to use it to study the palimpsests in one UMKC manuscript, M2147.C53 1500z, which is a kyriale from about 1500 which has a series of erasures and rewriting. Our pilot investigation of the Adair Chant Book was a key deliverable. In addition, the MU team completed an analysis of the Prague Missal and the Menaion Service Book.

Project Funding

"Multispectral Analysis of Missouri's Cultural Resources." Total Award: $95,000. Funded by the University of Missouri Intercampus Interdisciplinary Project. Grant Period: September 2014 - June 2016.

Annie Liljegren, "Developing Skills in Book History and Multispectral Imaging," Summer Undergraduate Research Opportunity (SUROP) Grant, UMKC, April 2015 ($3250 research award).