Identification and comparison between non-woody plant fibers (flax, hemp, kenaf and cotton) with manuscript paper fibers of the 5th, 7th to 12th centuries AH, belonging to the Malek National library and Museum

Historical papers are composed of non-woody plant fibers, fibers mentioned only in a few sources. This research intends to study the diversity and the most types of plant fibers used in the sample of manuscripts of the 5th, 7th to 12th centuries AH by matching them with existing plant samples. Therefore, with citing library resources regarding the most used plants in paper making, collecting non-woody plants, examining their fibers with the morphology of the fibers of the manuscripts in the National Library and Museum property collection data. These data were obtained based on laboratory methods and through microchemical reagents and optical and polarizing microscopic examinations, which ultimately led to the description, analysis and classification of various fibers in the paper sample of this study. The results showed that the plant fibers of flax, hemp, kenaf and cotton are different in two categories of woody fibers and bast fibers, but this difference is not stable and sometimes does not follow the biometric standards of fibers and sometimes similarities are observed, especially among their bast fibers. Also, In the sample of study papers, the main constituents of the bast fibers of flax, hemp and cotton lint fibers are present, and there is no sign of the presence of kenaf fibers among the papers of this manuscript. In the pulp of all these papers, woody fibers and accompanying cells are seldom present, which make it difficult to identify plant fibers, but their presence plays an effective role in the correct identification and detection of plant fibers.