(01-02-2021, 06:19 PM)-JKP- Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.If you would like to see one of the manuscript scanners used by the British Library and their associates, here is a pic:

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(07-05-2021, 02:31 AM)-JKP- Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.One of the nightmares medievalists and codicologists face is people who profit from ripping apart manuscripts and selling them sheet by sheet.
This has always happened, but I noticed on eBay years ago that the practice had increased to a frightening degree. In botanical manuscripts, for example, they sell the paintings, but the information about the plants is often on the opposite side, and the narrative to go with each drawing is lost, sometimes forever.
Here is an interesting article about a pre-eBay seller who cut apart beautiful manuscripts. It's interesting but hard to read if you have seen some of the carnage on eBay in the last few years and understand how badly manuscripts, some of them very old and rare, are being plundered:
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I was thinking, can't SOMETHING to be done to at least keep the information intact? Maybe some foundation should offer to archive scans of these books BEFORE they are torn apart. Maybe some of these people (who are unlikely to give up their profits) might at least be willing to give out the information. eBay sellers who deal in rare manuscripts are often quite good at taking high-resolution scans.