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Framboidal pyrites in antique books

Nature volume 388, page 631 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, ink was commonly manufactured by mixing tannin with iron sulphates. The anoxic environment inside ancient books favours the reduction of the sulphate in the ink and allows spherical aggregates (framboids) of submicrometre-sized pyrite crystals (iron sulphide) to be formed.

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Figure 1: Scanning electron micrographs a, Iron mapping (SEM-EDAX) which clearly follows the shape of a letter in the text.
Figure 2: Scanning electron micrographs a, Iron mapping (SEM-EDAX) which clearly follows the shape of a letter in the text.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales CSIC, C/ Jose Gutierrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Javier Garcia-Guinea, Jesus Martinez-Frias & Rafael Gonzalez-Martin

  2. Archivo Histrico Nacional CSIC, C/ Serrano 115, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Luis Zamora

Authors
  1. Javier Garcia-Guinea
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  2. Jesus Martinez-Frias
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  3. Rafael Gonzalez-Martin
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  4. Luis Zamora
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Garcia-Guinea, J., Martinez-Frias, J., Gonzalez-Martin, R. et al. Framboidal pyrites in antique books. Nature 388, 631 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/41677

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