Field Diary of David Livingston’s the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Picture from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Library_of_Scotland#/media/File:National_Library_of_Scotland,_Edinburgh.JPG
The MegaVision EV Multispectral system is used in the imaging of David Livingstone material at the National Library of Scotland.
Dr. David Livingstone was an African missionary, a medical doctor, explorer and advocate against the slave trade in Africa. In his final years, Dr Livingstone was reduced to writing on used newspaper and other found material with inks he made from berry juice.
Now, most of the material is virtually unreadable as paper has disintegrated and inks have faded. Using the The MegaVision EV Multispectral system , Dr Livingstone’s letters are photographed using 12 different wavelengths of light. when these images are enhanced using image analysis software, eroded text are revealed thus making it available for study.
The restoration of the letters will be done by researchers from Birkbeck College, University of London, the National Library of Scotland and the David Livingstone Centre. The documents will eventually be made available to the public through the Livingstone Online website.
For Further Information:
- livingstoneonline.org: https://livingstoneonline.org/spectral-imaging/the-livingstone-spectral-imaging-project-introduction
- Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/decoding-lost-diary-david-livingstone-180953385
- Guardian News: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jul/02/david-livingstone-last-letters-deciphered
- BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/10459263.stm
- New Scientist: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19119
- STV News: http://news.stv.tv/scotland/185283-secrets-of-livingstones-last-letter-finally-revealed
Dr Livingstone’s documents written with juice as ink on news papers barely visible
