The completely preserved book was lifted by the specialists from the Underwater Research Center of the Russian Geographical Society from the board of the “Archangel Raphael” sailing ship, which sank in the Gulf of Finland in the 18th century. In 2020, the fragments of two publications saw daylight again. Already, a total of four print editions have made up a "library" of such finds.
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The strange object, resembling a head of cabbage, lifted from the board of the “Archangel Raphael” in 2020, is nothing more than a book. The most valuable find is an impressive volume that has survived almost completely. But it has yet to be determined what kind of publication it is – the pages heavily contaminated with grease and tar, swollen from sea water, have not yet revealed their secrets.
Roman Prokhorov, restorer and archaeologist of the RGS Underwater Research Center: “The book has survived in its entirety, it contains more than 1000 pages. The fibers of the paper have swollen – because of this the book is completely open. The book’s restoration will, of course, require a very careful and thoughtful approach. We will be working with experienced paper restorers from the Grabar Art Conservation Center. There are already established methods, but nevertheless any such object is individual and requires a special approach. The book has a leather cover, under the cover there is a backing, most likely made of wood veneer. All this will have to be somehow separately dried, disassembled, and the book block will have to be dealt with separately. The book will certainly be readable."
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"With these wings, we go to the stars" reads the slogan-inscription on the title page of the Royal Swedish Mathematical Almanac of 1698. Unfortunately, only three pages have survived from this edition. This is another find of the past year; it has already gone through a number of stages of restoration. The pieces of paper are quite readable. Gothic font, Old German language. On two more surviving pages there is a calendar with marked holidays. A zodiac sign is drawn for each day, some lines are marked in red. The fragment of the book was found in the area of the navigator's cabin. Perhaps the navigator, who was supposed to understand the movement of the heavenly bodies, was no stranger to astronomical mathematics. And in those years it was very close to astrological configurations.
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Last year it was the already famous Psalter; three years ago – Bible fragments, 50 pages. They were found in the place where the sailor's cabin was located. Religious reading, apparently, was characteristic of those who traveled on unreliable sea waves. There may have been a chaplain on board who owned these books.
Roman Prokhorov, restorer and archaeologist of the RGS Underwater Research Center: "Another find is a couple of pages – fragments of sheets that we found two years ago, and when translating the text it became clear that this is a kind of historical description of the capture of Vienna by the Turks in the 16th century. That is, the travelers were readers! Judging by the number of printed artifacts, the crew of "Archangel Raphael" was competent. And now we learn from the discovered fragments and publications what exactly was popular among sailors at the beginning of the 18th century.”