Why It’s a Thrill to Find a Doodle in an Ancient Manuscript

Flipping through an illustrated manuscript from the 13th century, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Jesus loved a good fart joke.

Toward the end of his life, England’s King Henry VIII left a series of doodles in a prayer book, revealing his anguish over his health and his past actions, new research shows.

Centuries-old books, manuscripts and printing plates often contain invisible etchings, mysterious letters – and even doodles. A new technology that maps the surface of these objects is bringing them to light.

Medieval manuscripts are littered with images of cats—sharing their owner’s dinner, keeping them company, and even cosplaying as nuns.

When Lucretius’s work was rediscovered in the Renaissance, it gradually but fundamentally changed the way in which people think about the world.

The name may point to an abbess who lived in Kent at a time when few women could read or write.

When the edges take center stage.

While pawing through a stack of medieval manuscripts from Dubrovnik, Croatia, University of Sarajevo doctoral student Emir O. Filipović stumbled upon a familiar set of splotches marring the centuries-old pages.

UVA’s Book Traces Project tracks human interactions with physical books.