US EditionRare Merlin and King Arthur text found hidden in binding of medieval book
- A fragment of the Old French manuscript Suite Vulgate du Merlin, dating back to about 1300, which tells the tale of Merlin and King Arthur's early heroic years, was uncovered inside a 16th-century register located in Cambridge University Library.
- The manuscript, a sequel to an earlier text written around 1230, may have been forgotten because Old French was less popular in England by the 16th century, leading to it being repurposed as a book cover for a property record from Huntingfield Manor in Suffolk.
- Due to the paper's fragile and faded condition, experts at the library utilized cutting-edge digital technology, including multispectral imaging , CT scanning, and 3D modelling, to digitally capture, virtually unfold, and read the parchment for the first time in hundreds of years, preserving it in situ and avoiding permanent damage.
- The £100,000 camera captured 49 images of each page using different light panels and wavelengths ranging from UV to infrared, revealing details not visible to the naked eye and allowing researchers to analyze the binding structure and materials used by Elizabethan bookbinders.
- Irene Fabry-Tehranchi, a French specialist at the library, noted that the manuscript, which was previously misidentified as a story of Gawain, contains episodes about the Battle of Cambnic and Merlin appearing at Arthur's court, and its discovery highlights how powerful imaging technology can resurrect the past and potentially uncover more fragile fragments in other libraries.
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Medieval manuscript of lost Merlin and King Arthur legend read for first time in centuries
The NewsA fragment of a 13th-century manuscript containing rare medieval stories of Merlin and King Arthur was found hiding in plain sight in a university library. For more than 400 years, the text was stitched inside an Elizabethan register of property deeds, before it was discovered at Cambridge University, folded and fragile. Researchers used new technology to digitally capture parts of the parchment without unfolding or damaging it. The stor…
·New York, United States
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Lost manuscript of Merlin and King Arthur legend read for the first time after centuries hidden inside another book
For centuries, an intriguing sequel to the tale of Merlin has sat unseen within the bindings of an Elizabethan register. Cutting-edge techniques have revealed it for the first time.
·United Kingdom
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