Bach needs our help!

[Zach]

In a recent discussion about the autograph scores for Bach's WTC it was
noted that these precious manuscripts are deteriorating rapidly due to
the acidic nature of the iron based ink. What is being done to save the
Bach mss.? Was iron based ink very popular in Bach's time? Can the
paper be chemically treated to neutralize the acidic effects of the
ink? Is there a concerted effort underway by countries in possession of
Bach documents to conserve and restore them for antiquity? In this
digital age it is baffling that all the Bach documents have not yet
been digitally scanned at high resolution and archived on some media.
This really is outrageous! Who can we write to urge more action in this
matter? Let's act to preserve the Bach documents before it is too late!

SDG,
Zach

[Tom Hens]

Post by Zach
In a recent discussion about the autograph scores for Bach's WTC it was
noted that these precious manuscripts are deteriorating rapidly due to
the acidic nature of the iron based ink. What is being done to save the
Bach mss.?

A lot. Simply putting something like "bach manuscripts preservation" in
Google will show you. A major project has been underway since 2000 in the
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, which has about 80% of all extant Bach
autographs.

Post by Zach
Was iron based ink very popular in Bach's time?

It was almost the only kind around. Iron-gall ink was the primary ink used
from the middle ages until well into the nineteenth century. (You can still
buy it, from places that cater to calligraphers.)

Post by Zach
Can the paper be chemically treated to neutralize the acidic effects
of the ink?

If it hasn't deteriorated too far yet. You can't neutralize tears or holes.
In the case of manuscripts such as Bach's that were written on both sides
of the paper, the treatment requires splitting each sheet in half.

It's an irony of history that around the same time iron-gall ink was being
replaced by non-acidic inks, industrially produced paper came along, which
is itself acidic and doing an equally devastating job on more recent
manuscripts and books.

Post by Zach
Is there a concerted effort underway by countries in possession of
Bach documents to conserve and restore them for antiquity?

Yes. See googling advice above.

Post by Zach
In this
digital age it is baffling that all the Bach documents have not yet
been digitally scanned at high resolution and archived on some media.

I wouldn't overdramatize things. Photographic copies have been made since
long before the digital era. And as long as the music has been published,
very little information would be lost even if the manuscripts are. The fact
that not a single manuscript by him survives doesn't seem to have hurt the
preservation of Shakespeare's works, for instance. Having lots and lots of
printed copies around is a much better way of ensuring the survival of a
text than guarding one single manuscript original.

Post by Zach
Who can we write to urge more action in this
matter? Let's act to preserve the Bach documents before it is
too late!

If you want to put your money where your mouth is, you can always become a
patron of the Staatsbibliothek's Bach preservation project. See
http://www.freunde-sbb.de/