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15th-century copy of The Brus restored

One of the oldest copies of The Brus – the epic poem about Robert the Bruce and the Scottish Wars of Independence – has been restored by the University of Cambridge. The copy, which was made in 1487, had deteriorated over centuries of use.

The 1487 edition of The Brus, one of the two oldest remaining copies in existence, has been conserved and rebound for research and public display. - Credit: Cambridge Colleges’ Conservation Consortium
The 1487 edition of The Brus, one of the two oldest remaining copies in existence, has been conserved and rebound for research and public display. – Credit: Cambridge Colleges’ Conservation Consortium

The Brus is 14,000 line poem, written by John Barbour around 1375. It covers various events in Scotland from the late 13th and 14th centuries, most notably the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The two earliest surviving manuscripts of the poem date from the 15th century – one being held at the Library of St John’s College, in Cambridge, and the other at the National Library of Scotland.

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After centuries of use, however, the St John’s manuscript had become badly damaged. The great majority of its pages were torn, sections were difficult to read because of dirt and marking, and the volume was so tightly bound it could not be opened without damaging the pages further, making the document virtually unusable.

Last year, the College commissioned specialists from the Cambridge Colleges’ Conservation Consortium to conserve the text, with support from the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust. Over months of painstaking work, it was systematically taken apart, cleaned, repaired and rebound in a style more appropriate to its age.

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The delicate repair operation required the specialists to remove the binding, and lift the modern spine-liners and glue. Surface dirt was gently dry-cleaned from the pages, tears in the paper were repaired, and dog-eared corners flattened out. The manuscript was then resewn according to the original, 15th-century pattern, and rebound with traditional materials.

The result is an expertly and sympathetically repaired manuscript of The Brus which scholars of the Scottish Wars, or medieval literature, will be able to use in full. Along with many of the other priceless materials in the Library’s special collections, it will also be available for visiting groups to examine, and will periodically go on public display.

Kathryn McKee, Special Collections Librarian at St John’s College, explained “The Brus is a unique and nationally important treasure. This project means that we can now make it available to researchers, or put it on public display, without having to compromise its long-term preservation.”

Source: University of Cambridge

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