{"id":4555,"date":"2025-04-25T12:11:51","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T12:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/25\/exhibition-review-if-books-could-kill-at-the-walters-art-museum\/"},"modified":"2025-04-25T12:12:05","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T12:12:05","slug":"exhibition-review-if-books-could-kill-at-the-walters-art-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/25\/exhibition-review-if-books-could-kill-at-the-walters-art-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"Exhibition Review: \u201cIf Books Could Kill\u201d at the Walters Art Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An installation view of \u201cIf Books Could Kill\u201d at the Walters Art Museum. Courtesy of the Walters Art Museum<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Attention bibliophiles and antiquarians: did you know that some old manuscripts are downright deadly? In modern society, it\u2019s entirely safe to browse through books, but for centuries, flipping through the pages of a single tome could have devastating health consequences, as toxic chemicals were often used in their creation. The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore is digging into this lesser-known side of bibliology in \u201cIf Books Could Kill,\u201d which looks at the dark and dangerous side of the production of illustrated manuscripts and other texts.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s not a large exhibition, but it\u2019s a versatile one, covering medieval bookmaking technology and science, the social lives of books and contemporary conservation science. It also explores the life stories of the book illustrators who suffered from various maladies after extensive exposure to toxic materials.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen I first came to Walters, there were only four manuscripts created by women, and I was interested in women\u2019s engagement in manuscripts,\u201d Dr. Lynley Anne Herbert<\/a>, who co-curated the exhibition, tells Observer. \u201cWhen I got Clothilde Missal<\/i>, a manuscript illustrated by Clothilde Coulaux, I found it surprisingly heavy.\u201d When she asked the museum\u2019s book conservator why it was so weighty, she was told that \u201cthe heaviness came from the beautiful creamy white colors, which are full of lead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Treatise\"Treatise
Treatise on Elephants<\/em>, 1824; Ink and paint on paper, Thailand, gift from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation\u2019s Southeast Asian Art Collection, 2002. Courtesy of the Walters Art Museum<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Neither Dr. Herbert nor the book\u2019s dealers had known that the book contained lead, and that discovery prompted her to consider the impact daily work with toxic materials might have had on Coulaux\u2019s health. As it turns out, a substantial number of medieval manuscripts contain toxic materials such as white lead and red mercury, which were both common pigments used during Coulaux\u2019s lifetime (1878-1931). The exhibition reveals how these and other toxic materials were used by scribes, artists and bookbinders and showcases twenty-four rarely displayed examples of beautiful but dangerous manuscripts from the Walters Art Museum\u2019s extensive collection.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s cross-cultural representation here, as Europeans weren\u2019t the only ones using pigments created with arsenic and other toxic materials. \u201cIf Books Could Kill\u201d has plenty of geographical and chronological range\u2014there\u2019s the 19th-century Treatise on Elephants<\/i> from Thailand with its arsenic-based yellows and a 15th-century copy of the Armenian Gospels with vermillion pigments made with cinnabar.<\/p>\n

\"Gospels,\"Gospels,
Gospels<\/em>, 1455; ink and pigments on thick paper folios with rounded outer edges bound between wooden boards lined with coarse red linen covered with thick red goatskin, Lake Van, Turkey, acquired by Henry Walters, 1911. Courtesy of the Walters Art Museum<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This exhibition also offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the work of conservation scientists. While some toxicants can be identified by sight, others are only revealed through scientific testing. A conservator-led video in the exhibition demonstrates how portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) is used to identify the mercury in the heart shapes embellishing the pages of one illustrated medieval manuscript.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a huge fan of gloves, not only when handling these books but many other things, really,\u201d conservation scientist Dr. Annette S. Ortiz Miranda<\/a>, who curated the exhibition with Dr. Herbert, tells Observer. \u201cDon\u2019t touch any of the colored parts with clean hands. If all pages are covered completely with lead white, wear gloves.\u201d While books with hazardous illustrations are not dangerous when closed, there are varying levels of toxicity associated with different categories of books.<\/p>\n

\"Archangel\"Archangel
Archangel Michael Battling Devils,<\/em> 2nd quarter 15th Century; Belgium southeast and France northeast, parchment with ink, paint and gold, acquired by Henry Walters. Courtesy of the Walters Art Museum<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The conservation science focus of \u201cIf Books Could Kill\u201d can be traced to the Walters Art Museum\u2019s unique history. The Walters family and the museum have long been interested in technical research. The institution\u2019s Conservation Department, the third of its kind in the U.S., was founded in 1934, and the museum\u2019s science lab was established in 2004. There, conservation scientists work with items from the collection to answer questions of provenance, age and authenticity, with their findings shaping the content of exhibition labels for visitors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"An\"An
An Illustrated Manuscript Confessory for the Use of a Deaf Youth<\/em>, ca. 1819; watercolor and ink on paper, the Netherlands, museum purchase, 2023. Courtesy of the Walters Art Museum<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dr. Herbert believes the recently opened book gallery is the museum\u2019s \u201chidden gem. \u201cIt helps us realize the importance of the collection,\u201d she says of the new exhibition space in the Medieval Gallery. The Walters\u2019 manuscript collection is, indeed, important, with over 100,000 manuscripts from many cultures, 13,000 incunabula (printed books from before 1300) and 2,000 printed books from the 16th to the 20th Centuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Books Could Kill\u201d offers a fresh perspective on historical bookmaking practices. It\u2019s common to admire illustrated manuscripts\u2019 beauty but less so to consider what went into it. The curators reassure us that it\u2019s completely safe to view the toxic works in the show from afar and that there are ways for experts to handle these works safely. As the museum humorously notes on the placards: no curators, conservators or art handlers were harmed in the process of putting this exhibition together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Books Could Kill<\/a>\u201d is on view at the Walters Art Museum through August 3, 2025.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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