Manuscript Notes
A Manuscript’s Binding Can Be Younger Than Its Leaves
Keep a manuscript’s writing date separate from the date of its present binding, and follow the catalogue’s evidence for later rebinding.
Ideas worth reading closely
Notes from the reading room
Manuscript Notes
Tiny Pricking Holes Can Belong to a Manuscript Page’s Preparation
Look for manuscript pricking as evidence of page preparation, while distinguishing surviving holes from damage and later alterations.
Ideas in Context
The Gospel of Truth Opens with Recognition, Not a Birth Scene
Read the opening of the Gospel of Truth through its images of knowledge, fear and error, without expecting a chronological biography or inventing an author.
Reading Room
A Manuscript Reading Session Can End with a Question for the Catalogue
A close reading sometimes ends with an uncertainty that the visible page cannot answer. Turning it into a precise catalogue question is more productive than…
Manuscript Notes
Keep Your Digital Manuscript Annotations Separate from the Source Image
A coloured arrow helps you remember a manuscript detail, but it can become misleading when the annotated screenshot circulates without explanation. Keep a…
Manuscript Notes
A Later Reader’s Ownership Note Is Not Necessarily a Reading Response
A name written inside an old book can connect the object with a person, but it does not automatically tell us how that person understood the text. Ownership…
Reading Room
A Translation’s Glossary Can Show Where One English Word Hides Several Choices
An English term repeated through a translation may look stable while representing more than one word in the source language. A glossary can help you…
Manuscript Notes
A Manuscript’s Blank Space May Belong to Its Design
An empty area on a manuscript page can tempt a reader to imagine missing words. Before supplying a loss, inspect how the surrounding writing is arranged.