Our post on the Codex Alexandrinus last December brought this comment from Dave P.: "I wonder if conservators in 100 years time will look at this work and frown, as you do at older work?" The simple answer is that we hope not. Before conserving any collection item we consider all the options and are confident that we choose the most suitable and least invasive treatment available to us. But that, surely, is what past conservators thought too?

Add MS 39603  This  beautifully decorated 11th/12th century Greek cruciform Gospels now has pigment corrosion throughout. In the past it was treated by covering the damaged areas with a fine silk net to prevent further losses. This process is not easily reversible, should the manuscript require further conservation in the future.

Our brow-wrinkling is more likely to be pondering the why of an old repair than expressing displeasure with it. No conservator can justify unnecessary work or has the time to do it, so we should assume that everything we see was thought to be an essential and efficient treatment. If earlier generations have left us problems, they didn’t do it deliberately! The only sensible reaction is to learn from their work what is effective and harmless in the long-term.

Add MS 43790B   When this manuscript of few folios was rebound, many short folds of blank modern paper were added to bulk the spine sufficiently to achieve a satisfactory round. The manuscript is well protected, but the book is wedge-shaped. In hindsight, it would have been better to use full size blank leaves.

Not all historic repairs make us frown. Some early sewn or laced repairs to splits in parchment have endured for many centuries. Similarly, Humphrey Davy’s recipe for relaxing cockled parchment, a mix of spirits of wine (i.e. ethanol) and water, works very well and continued as a treatment until recently. The older the repair, the more likely it will use natural materials and simple techniques with known and trusted outcomes.

Add MS 64797  The wooden board split and part was lost, though the full-width covering leather remains.  An infill was carefully built up from layers of millboard (which has more desirable qualities than new wood). The top layer was recessed to hold and protect the old leather which would have been vulnerable to further damage if simply adhered on top of a flat board.

However, historically the available range of repair materials was limited, so tears and weak edges were supported with whatever was to hand. Occasionally, we find a medieval manuscript on parchment with strips of 18th century writing paper reinforcing damaged edges, apparently adhered with wet flour paste by a previous owner. We see now that such heavy repairs cause further damage to the weak parchment, and microscopy reveals that wetting parchment can degrade it too. These days we make lighter repairs, so that if there is further deterioration the repair materials will split, not the original, and we use adhesives that add no or little moisture to the parchment. But that earlier repair, however flawed, has both ensured the manuscript survived to the present, and forced us to improve our methods.

Harley 5201, f.90r  The damage is caused by touching or kissing the saint’s image. It is unlikely to get worse and is a valuable record of historic devotional practices. It does not require treatment at present but, if it should, we would also try to preserve the material culture evidence.

A wide range of repair resources is now available to us. The British Library buys traditional materials like paper and adhesives of the highest quality, often made specifically for conservation. They are tested, so we can be sure they neither contain undesirable additives, nor will degrade over time to release damaging compounds. But we also have access to newly-developed specialist supplies for the more difficult tasks, where customary techniques are inadequate. We use these cautiously for, despite accelerated aging tests, we cannot be entirely certain how they will behave in 50 or 100 years from now. We remember problems with experimental treatments briefly used last century, and take them as a warning. We also make sure our repairs can be removed without causing any more damage, just in case re-treatment is necessary in the future.

Harley 3334, f.59r   The holes suggest this flaw started to split during manufacture while the parchment was drying under tension, and the maker stopped it progressing by temporarily sewing or pinning. Once dry, the flaw was stable and the text could be written around the damage.

At the same time, our focus is changing from invasive treatment to preservation. It is better to use limited resources to slow down the deterioration of whole collections by controlling temperature and humidity, by providing simple protective enclosures, and by training staff and readers in good handling techniques, so that fewer items require active conservation in future. There is always likely to be the need for running repairs in a working library, but it is surely better to prevent damage when we can. For the future, digitisation will mean our manuscripts are less handled and spend more time in optimum storage conditions, so conservators of the future should need to intervene and treat manuscripts more rarely. Perhaps they will frown at some of our work, but we hope they will mostly be content that we did our best to preserve these unique objects for many more generations to enjoy.

Recently we asked our readers how they have been using our public domain images. And we're extremely gratified by the many responses we have received, via Twitter (@blmedieval) and in the comments section at the end of the original blogpost. Here is a selection of your comments:

I do medieval recreation/reenactment, and I like to use the BL images as inspiration for my illuminated/calligraphed texts.

I recently published an article on medieval wood pasture management and was excited to be able to use manuscript images from the BL Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts as part of the analysis. An acknowledgement of the BL's service in providing the image was included in the endnote for each figure. Thanks so much for providing this service to scholars!

Detail of a miniature of men beating down acorns to feed their pigs, on a calendar page for November (London, British Library, MS Royal 2 B VII, f. 81v).

I'm teaching a course on Arthurian literature, art and film from the Middle Ages to the present in October, and am using the image of Arthur from Royal 20 A. II, f. 4 as the course image. It's wonderful to have this readily available representation of Arthur from a medieval manuscript, and hopefully will serve to inspire my students not only in terms of an interest in Arthurian studies, but also manuscript studies too!

I have used your images from the Queen Mary Psalter and your interface to make a point about mediated networks.

Yes (with attribution), on a poster for a Middle English poetry reading.

Thank you, yes! Lady Jane Grey 1  and Lady Jane Grey 2

Text page with coloured initials and line-fillers, and a portion of a message written in the margin by Lady Jane Grey to her father, the Duke of Suffolk: '… youre gracys humble daughter Jane Duddley.' (London, British Library, MS Harley 2342, f. 80r). 

Yep, in my tumblr (but I mentioned it!). By the way, you're doing a very very great job, thanks! 

Just in time for prepping my 13th/14th c Northern Painting class.

Repeatedly in my blogposts, but more importantly (to me, anyway) on the front page of my MA thesis on the Confessor.

I've used bits for my site banner images.

And from one of our regular contributors came this: Well done. This is precisely the sort of thing that the national collection should be doing; enriching the culture of the nation of today by means of images from the public treasury of manuscripts.

Historiated initial (London, British Library, MS Arundel 91, f. 26v).

We've been asked to clarify a couple of issues raised by some of our users. At present, the British Library's policy on the re-use of images in the public domain applies (in the case of our medieval manuscripts) to images downloaded from our Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts and from this blog. Readers who commission or purchase publication-quality images from our Imaging Services should note that they still need permission to reproduce them. Likewise, users should note that the technology behind our Digitised Manuscripts site currently precludes the downloading of images from that resource. This applies to all the manuscripts published as part of our Greek manuscripts, Harley Science and Royal digitisation projects.

Meanwhile, we hope that you continue to find new ways to use our images, so that together we can promote new research and gain new insights into our medieval and early modern heritage. 

The British Library holds an outstanding collection of Classical and Byzantine manuscripts, including highlights such as Codex Alexandrinus, the Theodore Psalter, and the Aratea.

A page from the Theodore Psalter: Constantinople, 1066 (London, British Library, MS Additional 19352, f. 191r).

More than 550 of our Greek manuscripts have already been published in full on the British Library's Digitised Manuscripts site, thanks to the generosity of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. By digitising these manuscripts, and by providing enhanced descriptions, we have revolutionised access to this hugely important resource, making them freely available on-line for researchers and interested non-specialists to examine and research.

The British Library wishes to build on these achievements and is therefore currently advertising for the new post of Curator of Classical & Byzantine Studies (3 year, fixed-term contract). The successful candidate will join the Medieval and Earlier Manuscripts Section within the History and Classics Department and will have responsibility for interpreting and actively promoting the Classical & Byzantine collections (both Greek and Latin) for researchers and the public to increase their use and appreciation more widely. They will also project-manage the digitisation and online presentation of the rest of the Library’s Greek manuscripts, so that the entire corpus is freely available to all anywhere in the world.

We are looking to appoint someone with a post-graduate degree, or equivalent, in a relevant subject, and with extensive experience of research in Classical and/or Byzantine Studies. Strong knowledge of Ancient Greek and Latin, excellent written and oral communication skills in English, and the ability to promote the collections to a wide range of audiences are essential.

To see a copy of the job profile and information about how to apply, please click here.

Closing date: 7 April 2013. Interviews will be held on 22 April 2013.

A page from Cicero's Aratea, with extracts from Hyginus, Astronomica: France, 1st half of the 9th century (London, British Library, MS Harley 647, f. 12r).

Over the past few years, we've had great pleasure in making many of our books available to view in their entirety on our Digitised Manuscripts site. Periodic announcements have been made on this blog, relating notably to the digitisation of our Greek and Royal manuscripts and to our Harley Science Project. But nothing quite compares to the new treasures now added to Digitised Manuscripts, encompassing the fields of art, literature and science.

And when we say "treasures", we really mean it! The six books in question are none other than (drumroll, please) the Harley Golden Gospels, the Silos Apocalypse, the Golf Book, the Petit Livre d'Amour ... and, um, two others. What were they again? Oh yes, remember now. Only Beowulf and Leonardo da Vinci's Notebook. How could we forget?

The Harley Golden Gospels (London, British Library, MS Harley 2788, f. 71v).

Each of these six manuscripts is a true splendour, and has immense significance in its respective field, whether that be Anglo-Saxon literature, Carolingian or Flemish art, or Renaissance science and learning. On Digitised Manuscripts you'll be able to view every page in full and in colour, and to see the finer details using the deep zoom facility. You can read more about the chosen six in a special feature in the Financial Times Weekend magazine, published on 9 February 2013.

Harley Golden Gospels (Harley MS 2788): this beautiful gospelbook was made in early-9th-century Germany, perhaps at Aachen. The text is written entirely in gold ink, which even today glistens in the light; the sheer wealth of its decoration lends this manuscript its association with the Carolingian royal court.

Beowulf (Cotton MS Vitellius A XV): contains the longest epic poem in Old English, and arguably one of the greatest works of world literature. The manuscript was made around the year AD 1000, and escaped destruction by fire in 1731: the scorch marks are still visible on its pages.

Beowulf (London, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A XV. f. 132r).

Silos Apocalypse (Additional MS 11695): this commentary on the Apocalypse was made by monks at the Spanish abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, being started in AD 1091 and completed in 1109. The decoration leaps out from every page, remaining as vivid as the day it was painted.

The Silos Apocalypse (London, British Library, MS Additional 11695, f. 5v).

Leonardo da Vinci's Notebook (Arundel MS 263): compiled between the years c. 1478 and 1518, this notebook deals with many of the subjects close to Leonardo's heart: mechanics, geometry, hydraulics, optics, astronomy and architecture. Written in his characteristic mirror script, one scholar has described Leonardo's book as an "explosion of ideas".

Leonardo da Vinci's Notebook ("Codex Arundel") (London, British Library, MS Arundel 263, ff. 84v + 88r).

Petit Livre d'Amour (Stowe MS 955): Pierre Sala (d. 1529), a valet de chambre of Louis XII of France, made his "Little Book of Love" for his mistress (and subsequently wife) Marguerite Builloud. Who could not have been bowled over by such a gift? The manuscript is still preserved in its original carrying case, inscribed with the letters P and M.

Petit Livre d'Amour (London, British Library, MS Stowe 955, f. 17r).

Golf Book (Additional MS 24098): famous for its depiction of a game resembling golf, this Book of Hours contains a series of miniatures attributable to Simon Bening (d. 1561), one of the greatest Flemish artists.

The Golf Book (London, British Library, MS Additional 24098, f. 20v).

We are delighted to be able to share these six glorious manuscripts with our readers around the world; and we hope in turn that you share them with your friends too. You can also currently see Beowulf, the Harley Golden Gospels and select pages from Leonardo da Vinci's notebook in the British Library's Sir John Ritblat Gallery.

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter @blmedieval.

Digitisation is a great way to make unique and fragile manuscripts more available both for study and pleasure. The images can be accessed at any time of day and from anywhere in the world, without the risk of damage inherent in physically handling manuscripts. But before a British Library manuscript can go to the imaging studio to be photographed, it receives a condition assessment. A conservator looks at various aspects of the manuscript and its binding to decide if it can go straight to the imaging studio, or needs some minor repairs or preparation first, or should not be photographed at this time.

Harley MS 4051-4052  The textblock has split right down the spine – damage seen frequently in older bindings where the leather is adhered directly to the spinefolds.  Often the endbands also break, but here they have detached.  The book also has poor openings with much text hidden.  It will be listed for full conservation before digitisation.

Much of the time of a digitisation project conservator is spent on these condition assessments in order to answer one simple question: can this item be photographed safely? To make an informed decision, we look at each manuscript fully, recording its overall condition and specific damage - a process that may take an hour or more. We have standard risk assessments for activities such as taking a book from a shelf and delivering it to another location, but must estimate the likelihood of further damage during imaging for each item. Along the way, we record other useful information (such as size) and note any problems that need to be resolved.

Royal MSS 16 C V & VI.  Two textblocks of different sizes have been bound together making both vulnerable to edge damage and the entry of dirt.  Both manuscripts also have wax seals, which can leave pressure marks and abrasions on surrounding leaves and are themselves easily broken if the pressure on them is uneven.  Cleaning is needed before imaging, and extra care during it.

Damage is recorded systematically. Bindings are checked for split joints, loose sewing, degraded leather and suchlike, and the book’s normal opening angle is photographed. The textblock material is inspected: if paper, is it brittle or weak?; if parchment, is it gelatinised? Are there tears or missing areas, dirt, stains or mould-damage? We pay special attention to folds or pleats that hide text – opening them repeatedly risks damage at the creases. What about the inks and pigments? Are they corrosive or flaking? Are there signs that they are fugitive to light or water?

Egerton MS 2745 f.164  Damp and mould have not only discoloured the parchment but made it weak and inflexible, resulting in splitting.  Many damaged folios of this manuscript were repaired and supported before it was last rebound, and it does not need further conservation before imaging, as the remaining weakness is unlikely to get worse.

If the assessment suggests the item cannot safely be imaged as it is, the conservator then notes mitigations. Simple preparatory work might include some surface cleaning of areas that are very grimy, to prevent dirt transferring from folio to folio as the book is handled. We generally indicate a maximum opening angle and may specify particular handling techniques, or allow the imaging technician extra time to set up heavy or over-sized items. The conservator can also request additional support from Collection Care during imaging. In extreme cases, conservators may do all the handling themselves.

Egerton MS 2787  The sewing has broken and several gatherings are loose.  There is some risk that folios will be lost, but this kind of damage also makes it difficult to handle a bound manuscript properly during imaging without causing more harm.  Conservation is estimated at 2 hours.

Minor conservation treatment must sometimes be undertaken before digitisation. Often the binding is damaged: a board must be reattached or leather with red rot requires consolidation. Not all damage to the textblock needs intervention, but the project conservator will usually secure loose folios, repair tears that compromise the text, support areas affected by mould that might become more damaged by handling, and consolidate flaking pigments. An estimate of the time required for this work is made during the assessment.

Egerton MS 2808 typical opening   Although the binding of this volume is undamaged, it does not open well enough to image all the text.  Removing the spine leather and linings requires an ethical judgement and is also time-consuming, especially since this is an oversized, heavy and very thick book which requires two people for safe handling.

Not every item we want to digitise is a bound book. Loose single sheets are easy to image flat, but unbound material is more easily damaged and may have torn and folded edges. When single sheets have fastenings to keep them in groups, these need to be removed before imaging and replaced after. The conservator assesses the time required to do this. Rolls can be imaged flat, but will be done in sections if they are long, and temporary cores must be provided for rolling/unrolling. Mounted objects can also be imaged flat, but require special handling, and thus take longer. Historically, some parchment and much papyrus has been mounted between glass, and there may be difficulties in getting good images without reflections.

Royal MS 1 D II    Bound in vellum, which is extremely durable, but becomes inflexible as it ages. Here, repeated opening of the book has caused the joint to split, also damaging the endpapers.  The conservator will do minor repairs to prevent the board detaching or moving out of position.

The conservator’s role is to facilitate digitisation and make our manuscripts more accessible, so when would we decide a manuscript should not be digitised? Very occasionally, an item is just so large and/or heavy that it cannot be photographed safely with our existing equipment. In other cases, the scribe has given us a problem by writing text up to (and even around) the spine-fold. Even if the book opens well, parts of words will be missing in the photographs. The only way to access the complete text would be to disbind the book - something we rarely do, especially if it means altering an historic binding. (We understand that the physicality of a book, the materials used, the original binding technique, the stains and damage, also give important information to readers). Finally, an item that requires significant conservation may be excluded, because there is insufficient project time and funding to do the work.

Add. MS 82957, a 12th century Menologion damaged by water, mould and rodents.  The estimate for full conservation of the manuscript is 745 hours.  It was decided to spend just 58 hours on the most necessary repairs prior to digitisation.  The conservator will accompany the manuscript to the imaging studio and do all the handling. Issue of the manuscript will remain restricted until full conservation can be completed.

All the time that goes into condition assessments pays off. Up to 25% of items need some kind of intervention before photography, but most take just a few minutes to ensure that the manuscripts will not be further damaged during the imaging process. We are committed to making many more of our manuscripts available to researchers in this way, and to enrich the cultural life of the nation through these unique and beautiful artefacts.

Ann Tomalak, Conservator, Greek Manuscripts Digitisation Project

While some of our high-grade manuscripts are temporarily unavailable, please take the opportunity to use our Digitised Manuscripts site. We have already uploaded hundreds of manuscripts, digitised in their entirety, including many of our medieval Greek books; some of our scientific manuscripts; and dozens of volumes featured in the British Library's Royal exhibition. Check out some of our greatest medieval books, including one of our most recent acquisitions, the St Cuthbert Gospel. And don't forget to use the deep-zoom facility, which enables users to view the manuscripts as never before!

The late-7th-century St Cuthbert Gospel (Additional MS 89000): note the lack of white gloves!

We are very happy to be able to share our wonderful manuscripts with you -- please pass on the good news, and share them with others.

The British Library is committed to making available online as many of its medieval manuscripts as possible. But to do so requires considerable work behind the scenes, not least on the part of our dedicated team of conservators. We recently published to our Digitised Manuscripts site images of the whole of the New Testament portion of Codex Alexandrinus, the oldest complete Bible; and here is described the background to that achievement.

Codex Alexandrinus is currently bound in 4 separate volumes. They retain part of the leather cover that was made when the manuscript was donated to King Charles I (1625-1649), but were probably rebound sometime between the 19th and 20th century. The manuscript is written in iron gall ink on parchment. The quality of the parchment substrate is superb: it is extremely thin, comparable to the parchment used in the making of Codex Sinaiticus, another early Bible digitised in recent years by the British Library and its partners.

In the case of Codex Alexandrinus, the opening of the manuscript was heavily compromised by the last re-binding, which jeopardised our ability to photograph properly each page in its entirety. Bound books are very complex structures: they are made of many different materials and the interaction between the writing support and the mechanics of the sewing structure is vital to their survival. Unfortunately, it had been the practice in recent centuries to attach too-heavy spine linings (made of layers of stiff paper and weak fabric) to the back of book blocks, which in many cases has only served to compromise their opening. This was found to be the case when Codex Alexandrinus was examined prior to digitisation.

The first requirement was to reach the back of the book block, which entailed removal of the cover. Next, the parchment book block was gently cleaned by removing the different layers of unsuitable materials, releasing the pressure on the folds of individual sections, and improving considerably the opening of the manuscript. A new reinforcement made of archival suitable materials was then placed onto the spine to support the opening of the book, and to increase the strength of the connection between the book block and the cover. Finally, the cover was re-adhered to this volume of Codex Alexandrinus. By doing this, the manuscript could be opened sufficiently to image its pages.

The digitisation process took two days, and was strictly monitored by a conservator and a curator, ensuring that each page was reproduced in the best possible way without in any way endangering the manuscript. We hope that you enjoy the results!

Flavio Marzo, Conservation Studio Manager for the Qatar Digitisation Project at the British Library

Detail of the colophon at the end of Matthew: it reads 'Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ματθαῖον', literally 'Gospel according to Matthew'; from Codex Alexandrinus, vol. 4, 5th century, Eastern Mediterranean, Royal MS 1 D. viii, f. 5v.

The New Testament volume from one of the British Library’s most valuable treasures, Codex Alexandrinus, has been made available online for the first time on the Library’s website. Codex Alexandrinus, which translates simply as ‘the book from Alexandria’, dates from the 5th century and is the most complete Bible preserved from early Christian times. The New Testament volume of this unique book has been digitised in full as part of a larger British Library project to transform access to some of its oldest and most valuable handwritten books.

The Codex is one of the three earliest known surviving Greek Bibles: the others are Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus. Between them, these three manuscripts are the most important witnesses for the full text of the Greek New Testament. Codex Alexandrinus is particularly important, since it is the oldest example of what is known as the Byzantine text of the New Testament, the wording of which became the dominant form in Greek Christianity from the 7th century down to today. As well as the 27 books of the New Testament, it also includes two other texts important to early Christians, a letter of Clement, Bishop of Rome, written at the end of the 1st century, and a second slightly later homily attributed to Clement. Its use of stylized decoration means it is also of great importance for the history of early Christian art.

Page containing Luke 22:42-23:3, but without verses 22:43-44; from Codex Alexandrinus, vol. 4, 5th century, Eastern Mediterranean, Royal MS 1 D. viii, f. 39v.

The Codex is named after the capital of Greek Egypt, Alexandria, to which it was brought at the beginning of the 14th century. It was presented to King Charles I in 1627, and its arrival in Britain was a revelation to biblical scholars, not least for its important divergences from the text of the recently published King James Version of 1611. For example, Codex Alexandrinus omits the so-called ‘Holy Sweat’ passage (Luke 22:43-44): ‘And there appeared an angel unto him [Jesus] from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground’ (King James Version). The book passed into national ownership with the donation of the Old Royal Library by George II in 1757.

The digitisation of Codex Alexandrinus complements the full digital coverage of Codex Sinaiticus made available in 2009 by the British Library as a result of an international collaborative project. Codex Alexandrinus joins over 800 other medieval manuscripts now available in full online on the Library’s website where they can be studied in great detail by anyone, anywhere in the world.

Page containing Luke 24:32-53 and the colophon at the end of Luke; from Codex Alexandrinus, vol. 4, 5th century, Eastern Mediterranean, Royal MS 1 D. viii, f. 41v.