A unicorn, a lion, and a fox/wolf/angry deer(?) from our earliest held copy of the Magna Carta.
Someone used a couple of blank pages to trace the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom. While this book was published in 1514, this drawing was made later on - these symbols were first combined with the Union of Crowns under James I in 1603. With the unicorn on the left, we imagine the doodler might have been Scottish.
What kind of animal do you think our mystery doodler drew on the back cover?
213 notes
·
View notes
It’s Magna Carta Day! In the 13th century, England was under the rule of King John. Many of his nobles were unhappy with the arbitrary way he led the country and a rebellion broke out. Simplistically, the Magna Carta was a peace treaty between King John and his nobles that attempted to codify the procedures by which the King ruled over his subjects. The main rights established by the Magna Carta are due process of law and the right to a fair trial by a jury of one’s peers.
The Magna Carta, along with the U.S. constitution, are two of the most important documents in history establishing the protection of individual natural rights and freedom. This is a day worth celebrating!
29 notes
·
View notes
Preservation Technician cleans a record while wearing a battery powered air-purifying respirator for protection. Decontamination Lab, National Archives at St. Louis, MO.
Conservators: Magicians of the Archives!
November 4 is #AskAConservator Day!
Our conservators will take over Twitter Nov. 4 to answer your burning questions about how we deal with mold, water and insect damage in order to preserve these records for generations to come! Ask questions & follow the hashtag to see who else is participating worldwide.
See related National Archives News story: Fulbright Scholar Joins Heritage Science Lab and Tumblr post: We Welcome Cancy Chu - Our 1st Heritage Science Fulbright Scholar!
Check out our state-of-the-art labs!
Lab at the National Archives, St. Louis, MO
See this lab’s continuing work to save and reconstruct the records damaged in the 1973 fire.
Magna Carta Conservation Treatment
See NARA conservators use UV photography to reveal previously illegible writing on a 1297 Magna Carta (on loan from David M. Rubenstein).
Ultraviolet fluorescence photo of the 1297 Magna Carta parchment (before treatment) revealed obliterated text in damaged areas. Photo by Sarah Raithel. Related press release: National Archives Conservators Reveal Previously Illegible Text in Magna Carta
Saving the Iraqi Jewish Archive
Days after the Coalition forces took over Baghdad in 2003, American soldiers entered Saddam Hussein’s flooded intelligence building and found, under four feet of water, books and documents relating to the Jewish community of Iraq. Learn how these records were vacuum freeze-dried, preserved and digitized under the direction of the National Archives. View these records here.
Peek “behind the scenes” to see treatment of these records in the National Archives state-of-the-art Conservation Lab.
Due to mold, conservation staff wore gloves and masks, and worked under ventilation hoods whole working with records from the Iraqi Jewish Archive.
Preserving Family Histories
Paper conservator Annie Wilker repairs an 18th-century fraktur and demonstrates techniques used to preserve damaged documents.
More secrets revealed online!
What's a Conservator?
NARA Conservators Meet the Challenge Every Day, Prologue Magazine
Repairing Existing Damage to Family Papers and Photographs
Declaration of Independence - learn about the conservation treatment and re-encasement of the document.
Preserving the Dunlap Broadside
114 notes
·
View notes
So northern Barrons hated king John and wanted a stricter version of Magna Carta that would have limited the monarchs power more
2 notes
·
View notes
This adorable turkey is made from tools used in our conservation lab!
Happy Thanksgiving!
We’re thankful to have the tools to preserve and make your history accessible to you!
This delightful “tool turkey” was created by Sara Holmes, a conservator with Preservation Programs at the National Archives in St. Louis.
The feathers are made of bone folders (used to smooth out creases), microspatulas (used to remove many, many staples and other fasteners), and several types of palette knives (used as lifters, such as for removing tape).
The body is a horn folder (similar to the bone folders), wattle and eyes are made of binders' tape (used in book repair), the beak is a small piece of foamed eraser (used to clean paper, including removing mold from the surface of paper), and the feet are tweezers (used in mending to hold small fragments as well as to hold tissue used to make the mend repairs)..
Peek inside our amazing Heritage Science Lab!
Learn more about our Conservation Lab!
See also:
We Welcome Cancy Chu - Our 1st Fulbright Scholar!
Conservators: Magicians of the Archives!
Preservation Lab at the National Archives, St. Louis - see ongoing work to save and reconstruct the records damaged by fire.
1297 Magna Carta Conservation - UV photography reveals previously illegible writing! (on loan from David M. Rubenstein).
What's a Conservator?
NARA Conservators Meet the Challenge Every Day, Prologue Magazine.
National Archives Conservators Reveal Previously Illegible Text in Magna Carta.
Repairing Existing Damage to Family Papers and Photographs.
Declaration of Independence - learn about the conservation treatment and re-encasement of the document.
Preserving the Dunlap Broadside .
113 notes
·
View notes