9 hours ago
(Today, 01:37 AM)npcompl33t wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I noticed these holes on the right margin of f1r.They are worm holes.
Velum normally is indigestible to worms, but someone observed that the original cover of the VMS (before it was replaced, somewhere in 1700-1900) must have been made of wood, which worms can eat. Thus the worms mostly infested the covers and just nibbled at folio f1, and also at folio f116 (which has similar holes in the gutter margin); but did not go beyond them.
Besides the holes, the worms also scraped furrows on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. connecting some of the holes.
My guess is that some of the glue from the cover got transferred to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. when the book was exposed to humidity. While the worms could not digest the vellum, they could digest the glue. I have seen similar furrows made by cockroaches on labels, just to get to the glue.
Quote:The only two others i could find were on f102, where the dark spot seems suspicious, like maybe it was originally bound on this side at one point? There is clear mechanical wear from a string on these as well.
Those definitely look like worm holes and "wormscrapes" too. I suppose that flap f102.1 was originally wider than other flaps, so when f102 was folded it originally stuck out, and that part of the folio was in contact with the back cover too.
It is not clear whether the current fold between f102.1 and f102.2 was original. That folio seems to have been re-folded at some point.
All the best, --stolfi