Conservation treatment and re-housing of the Papyrus Rylands Greek 53: The Odyssey
Project cost: £22,730
Grant award: £9,100
Elisabeth Carr ACR, Collection Care Manager writes: The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, University of Manchester, is delivering a conservation and access project for Rylands Greek P53, a 3rd to 4th century CE parchment codex of Homer’s Odyssey from Egypt. The manuscript comprises 22 fragmentary folios preserved in 13 glazed frames, plus uncatalogued fragments. Mid-20th-century glass mounts, devised for papyrus rather than parchment, have caused distortion and cracking, salt bloom on the glass, adhesive ingress, mislabelling and exposed edges, obscuring the text and creating handling risks.
Supported by the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust, the project began with documentation and imaging of the glazings, including high-resolution photography, multi-spectral imaging and photometric stereo. Conservators opened the frames, detached the fragments, and reduced historic tapes and residues using poultices and micro-tools. Tears and weak edges are being stabilised with Japanese paper tabs adhered with wheat starch paste, before fragments are realigned with the Research Curator to restore coherence across the codex.
Crucially, the NMCT grant provides dedicated time for bench trials and consultation to research, test and refine a suitable, low-intervention and innovative mounting system tailored to parchment, enabling safe viewing of both sides and meeting requirements for handling, imaging and display. Treatment is paired with codicological investigation and scientific analysis, including Fibre Optic Reflectance Spectroscopy to characterise inks and proteomic species identification to support biocodicological research. The findings will inform rehousing in archival enclosures and improve safety for staff and readers and deliver updated catalogue data and a new digital facsimile, strengthening teaching and research internationally long term.
Find out more about the project and view a 3D image
Conservator with unglazed leaf.
