Documentation of the Earliest Known German-language Swiss Cookbook, ‘Ein Schön Kochbuch, 1559’

As an intern at Atelier Rothe, Bern, Switzerland, I designed a method of documenting the earliest known Swiss cookbook ‘Ein Schön Kochbuch 1559’, which had been repeatedly physically edited as the book was in use over nearly hundred years. The tracking method I devised accounted for various paper types, watermarks, binding methods and strings, handwriting, physical damages, biological damages, and staining, all of which could be used to assess the dating of the growth of this remarkable book.

I was also responsible for conducting technical analysis of the parchment cover. Through examining the morphology, it was determined to be calf skin. The green colour was examined using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis and calcium carbonate was identified, which was confirmed in the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis. Analysis with SEM also showed the presence of copper, which is the cause of the green colour.

The treatments for which I was responsible included the numbering of the pages with pencil, dismantling of the book block, and surface cleaning, tear repair and infilling of losses on the pages, as well as the humidification and flattening of the parchment cover.