25-05-2016, 08:49 PM
My opinion on question 4:
There are plenty of interesting additional tests that could be done, but I won't say that these would be justified, given the likely high cost involved.
1: radio carbon dating of the few parchment strips that were added in the centres of some quires. These could well have been added at the time of the latest binding, and would then tell us when that happened. Problem: this could fall in a time frame where the C-14 method has a very large uncertainty.
2: DNA tests of the parchment. This might not immediately give results, but with time, a growing database of such results might locate the origin of the parchment.
In my opinion, not *that* much would be gained from both tests.
The date of the present binding would be interesting to know but not much more.
The location of parchment generation may not be the same as where the MS was produced.
There are plenty of interesting additional tests that could be done, but I won't say that these would be justified, given the likely high cost involved.
1: radio carbon dating of the few parchment strips that were added in the centres of some quires. These could well have been added at the time of the latest binding, and would then tell us when that happened. Problem: this could fall in a time frame where the C-14 method has a very large uncertainty.
2: DNA tests of the parchment. This might not immediately give results, but with time, a growing database of such results might locate the origin of the parchment.
In my opinion, not *that* much would be gained from both tests.
The date of the present binding would be interesting to know but not much more.
The location of parchment generation may not be the same as where the MS was produced.