Similarly,
Hungarian medieval library threatened invasion:
ADVERTISEMENTTens of thousands of pounds of several centuries are removed from the shelves of a medieval. Meanwhile, abbey in Hungary in order to save them from an infestation of beetles. Furthermore, The objective is to save centuries of history that could be destroyed by these insects.
Pannonhalma’s abbey. Similarly, or territorial abbey of Saint-Martin on Mont Pannonhalma, is a vast Benedictine monastery, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage.
Careful work – Hungarian medieval library threatened invasion
The restaurateurs withdrew around 100,000 pounds from their shelves to carefully place them in boxes. In addition, It is the beginning of a disinfection process that aims to kill the tiny beetles that have taken refuge. Meanwhile, in books.
Pharmacies stégobia, also known as bread vrillette, is often among dried foods such as cereals, flour and spices. However, But it is also attracted to gelatin and hungarian medieval library threatened invasion starch adhesives found in books.
They were found in a section of the library containing approximately a quarter of the 400,000 volumes of the abbey.
“This is an advanced infestation of insects that has been detected in several parts of the library. However, We therefore consider that the whole collection is infected. Additionally, However, must be treated at the same time”Zsóphia Edit Haju, head of the restoration of the library. Moreover, “We have never met such a degree of infection before”.
The invasion of beetles was detected for the first time during a routine cleaning of the library. Nevertheless, The employees noticed unusual layers of dust on the shelves. then saw that holes had been dug on the back of certain books. “By opening the works, you could see holes in the paper, where the beetles had gnawed them.”
Many historic treasures
Pannonhalma Abbey was founded in 996, four years before the creation of the hungarian medieval library threatened invasion Kingdom of Hungary. Located on a high hill in the northwest of Hungary. The abbey houses the oldest collection of books in the country, as well as a large number of its oldest and most important written documents.
For more than 1. 000 years, the abbey has been one of the The most important religious and cultural sites in Hungary and from all over central Europe. It survived centuries of foreign wars. incursions, such as the invasion and the Ottoman occupation of Hungary in the 16th century.
Ilona Ásványi, dyectrict of the Pannhalm’s librthye. “Impressed” by the historical and cultural treasures which the collection conceals each time it enters it.
“It’s impressive to think that there was a library here a thousand years ago. that we are the guards of the first catalog of books in Hungary”she said.
Among the most remarkable works of the library are a Complete Bible dating from the 13th hungarian medieval library threatened invasion century. The place also houses several hundred manuscripts prior to the invention of printing in the middle of the 15th century. tens of thousands of books from the 16th century.
Although the most ancient. rarest prints and books are kept separately and have not been infected, Ásványi said that any damage caused to the collection was a blow for the Cultural, historical and religious heritage.
“When I see a book plagued by a beetle. infected in another way, I have the impression that, regardless of the number of published copies and the possibility of replacing the book, an element of culture has been lost”she said.
To kill the beetles, the books of books are placed in large hermetic plastic bags whose oxygen is eliminated. The abbey hopes that All beetles will be destroyed after six weeks in an environment made up of pure nitrogen.
Before being put back on the shelves, each book will hungarian medieval library threatened invasion be inspected individually and passed to the vacuum cleaner. Any book damaged by the parasites will be put aside for a subsequent restoration.
Hungarian medieval library threatened invasion
The fault of climate change?
The abbey. who hopes reopen the library early next yearthink that the effects of climate change played a role in the infestation of beetles, because the average temperatures increase rapidly in Hungary.
The manager of restaurateurs said that higher temperatures have enabled the beetles to undergo several additional development cycles per year. compared to what they could have done in a cooler weather.
“High temperatures are favorable to the life of insects”she said. “”Until now, we have mainly dealt with the damage caused by mold in the deposits and in open collections. But now I think that more and more insect infestations will appear due to global warming. “
The director of the library explained that life in a Benedictine abbey is governed hungarian medieval library threatened invasion by a set of rules applied for almost 15 centuries. a code which forces them to do everything possible to save their vast collection.
“The rule of Saint Benedict stipulates that all the goods of the monastery must be considered as having the same. value as the sacred vase of the altar”Déclaré Mineral. “I feel responsible for this preservation and this conservation.”
Further reading: The thousandth pine – Florie Darcieux – Olivier Norek: “Black novels are the history books of tomorrow” – The Albigensian author Sophie Astratbie publishes the secret of Jeanne, “The book of all women” – Here are 12 pounds to read camping in the forest or by the sea – “Rooms for a fleeing sentence”, Laurence Pelletier.
