Parchment is writing surface made from animal skin. The skin is cleaned and stretched on a wooden frame to make a flat, paper-like sheet. Its use predates paper by at least 2000 years, however, with early examples dating back to Ancient Egypt, around the 24th century BCE.
Parchment is generally more durable than paper, which is made from cellulose, usually in the form of wood pulp.
Did you know? The word “parchment” is derived from the name of the ancient Greek city Pergamon, which was famous for its parchment industry.
However, parchment presents unique preservation problems. Because is is made from skin, parchment is sensitive to humidity. If it dries out can be moisturized or “humidified.” Changes in environmental humidity over the life of the parchment document can cause wrinkling as the sheet reverts to its shape before stretching. “Flattening,” another common treatment, returns to the sheet to its stretched form.
The Great Parchment Book under the
CC BY-NC 3.0 US license.
Did you know? “Vellum” refers to a higher quality parchment made from the skin of younger animals. Vellum is still used for some official documents in Britain.
Both dry and wet cleaning methods can be applied to parchment, but may interact differently with the inks and other adornments. For example, the deterioration caused by iron gall ink is accelerated by moisture.
Several official documents in the Hook Papers are written on parchment, including the record of his appointment to Second Lieutenant, on display in the Hook Exhibit.
Colonel Hook Papers 