Magna
Carta - Latin means 'Great Charter' released in the UK on June 15, 1215
in the reign of King John. The rules limit the power of the British
monarchy which previously was absolute. Now, the document is considered a
first step toward constitutional law, not just a reduction in the power
of the king or queen.
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| Using ultraviolet light, British Library scientists were able to photograph the text of the 1215 Burnt Magna Carta that is invisible to the human eye. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1vYQtcH) |
There
are four original copies of documents that were made at that time. One
of them, the manuscript which kept in the British Library destroyed by
burning in a fire incident in 1731.
Now,
researchers are using a technique called multispectral imaging, managed
to decipher the text of "Burnt Magna Carta" without touching or causing
further damage to the valuable documents. This method allows scientists
to conserve by taking images that virtually ignores the damage and show
the parchment details and text on its surface.
"The
document is badly damaged, we simply could not read it with the naked
eye," said Christina Duffy, an imaging scientist at the British Library
as quoted by LiveScience, on Monday, October 13, 2014. However, with
these techniques, "very surprising because the text can be restored. "
The
imaging is part of the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta
ratification, when King John put the royal seal on the document, and
vowed to stick with it. British Library save two copies of the Magna
Carta, one of them in charred condition. The other two are stored in
Lincoln Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral.
On
February 3, 2015, four copies will be exhibited side by side in the
British Library, London, for the first time in history. The public may
enter the lottery for free tickets to see the exhibition, which is only
available for the 1,215 winners.
The
burnt Magna Carta was never studied for decades. In 1970, the charred
document was stored in special frame with a specific security. British
Library team has no intention of restoring the charred documents. The
object will be preserved as it is.
"There
are different ways to fix it. However, most of the wet process, certain
areas should be wet. We did not want to make the charter so moist,"
said Duffy.
Thus,
scientists are using multispectral imaging, which essentially
photographing the burned parchment with a series of LED light, which
covers the spectrum of ultraviolet to infrared - beyond the range of
human vision.
"Although some of the images produced basically the same, but each one giving different information," said Duffy further.
That
way, the text is invisible to the naked eye suddenly appeared.
Essentially identical to the text of three other copies which signed by
the King of England in 1215. The team is still processing the
multispectral image and will do the same process in other old documents
related to the Magna Carta. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | LIVESCIENCE]
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