At a first glance, I must admit, MS. Laud Misc. 120 and 135 do not stand out as the most intriguing medieval manuscripts.

This yellow bunny might resemble the gold foil chocolate Easter treats that pop up in supermarkets way too early before Easter – but this little fellow was drawn in a prayer book more than five hundred years ago, when nuns from the Cistercian convent Medingen near Lüneburg in Northern Germany were eagerly awaiting Easter day.

One of the most sensual rites of the Christian year is the Exultet at the Easter Vigil. The deacon or priest sings a melody that at first seems familiar, being based on the Preface tone heard often at Mass, but which keeps taking unexpected and exuberant turns that match the uninhibited excitement of its text.

‘Hello there – how old are you?’ This must be one of the most common questions in any reader’s mind when they are picking up a medieval manuscript.

Inside the wooden upper-board of one of the Bodleian Library’s 12th century manuscript hides what is perhaps a guilty secret. A mysterious pattern of lines, etched in to its surface.

Seit Kurzem liegen nun auch diejenigen Handschriften für die Digitalisierung im Rahmen des Polonsky-Digitalisierungsprojekts „Handschriften aus dem deutschen Sprachraum / Manuscripts from German-Speaking Lands" bereit, die aus einer der sechs klösterlichen Hauptprovenienzen in die Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel gelangten: die Bücher aus dem hochmittelalterlichen Benediktinerinnenkloster Lamspringe bei Hildesheim.

Here is a book. It is large and old. Should I open it? Choir Breviary: Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS.

-- The ‘Laudian Acts’, MS. Laud Gr. 35, is one of the Bodleian Library’s oldest books. It’s one of those that have travelled the furthest.

We often think of medieval codices as elaborate and flawless works of art. Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Cod. Guelf. 630b Helmst.

Natascha Domeisen’s ‘The importance of being (im)perfect’ brings up a key aspect of understanding parchment. This is a subject that has increasingly interested me, as a conservator, in recent years.