October 1, 2020
Medieval and early modern books are also herds and flocks, bound in and written or printed on the processed skins of goats, sheep, cows, pigs, and other animals. In this essay, as part of the Traveling Scriptorium, Laura O’Brien-Miller (Yale Library conservator) examines the ways in which these species can be described and identified. The Traveling Scriptorium is a Yale Library teaching collection for the study of the material components of the medieval and early modern book.