22-12-2021, 07:52 PM
I think that that kind of cross-contamination is not only possible but likely. Not just using the same solution, but the same container, the same lunellum, the same stretching frame, all could lead to remnants from one type of skin ending up on another.
In terms of relevance to the VMS, if every leaf were analyzed the results MIGHT give us more evidence about the original quire structure by allowing us to group bifolia according to skins, especially in the herbal section. The results will not tell us anything really useful about where the manuscript was produced, though. That will have to wait until a truly gigantic number (hundreds of thousands) of skins of KNOWN date/place of origin can be analyzed and put into a searchable database.
In the current circumstances (COVID-induced library closures, staff working remotely, etc.), it is simply impossible for this kind of work to be done on the VMS. Even someday when things are "back to normal," I think it is unlikely that the curator, conservator, and Beinecke Director would allow it.
In terms of relevance to the VMS, if every leaf were analyzed the results MIGHT give us more evidence about the original quire structure by allowing us to group bifolia according to skins, especially in the herbal section. The results will not tell us anything really useful about where the manuscript was produced, though. That will have to wait until a truly gigantic number (hundreds of thousands) of skins of KNOWN date/place of origin can be analyzed and put into a searchable database.
In the current circumstances (COVID-induced library closures, staff working remotely, etc.), it is simply impossible for this kind of work to be done on the VMS. Even someday when things are "back to normal," I think it is unlikely that the curator, conservator, and Beinecke Director would allow it.
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