Explore 69 Manuscripts Collections - Atlas Obscura
Places near me Random place

69 Items Tagged

Manuscripts

Share
A root system simulating a sea serpent, sprouting leaves and buds, on 15th-century parchment.
libraries

Explore the Whimsical Flora of a 15th-Century Italian Folio

An herbal a day will take the green from your gills away—and perhaps apply it to your thumb.
Isaac Schultz May 28, 2020
Verona, Italy

Biblioteca Capitolare of Verona

One of the oldest libraries in the world is still operating and contains the oldest existing document in the Italian language.
The copper time capsule was sunk inside another copper box, for extra protection.
manuscripts

The Things Inside This 105-Year-Old Time Capsule Have Hardly Aged a Day

The slew of ephemera was tucked in a copper box behind a cornerstone at Arlington National Cemetery.
Jessica Leigh Hester May 22, 2020
Medieval manuscripts were illuminated with folium, and one bore the instructions for recreating the ink.
paintings

The Mystery of a Medieval Blue Ink Has Been Solved

Turns out it was hiding in plain sight by the side of a Portuguese road.
Isaac Schultz April 17, 2020
It's got a bookish secret.
objects of intrigue

How a Trashed Italian Manuscript Got Sewn Into a Sweet Silk Purse

Book waste can be beautiful.
Jessica Leigh Hester February 14, 2020
The 14-page manifesto went missing for 50 years in the middle of the 20th century, before being found in a Swiss bank vault.
manuscripts

Sold: Pierre de Coubertin’s Blueprint for the Olympics

The 14-page speech is now the world’s most expensive piece of sports memorabilia.
Isaac Schultz January 13, 2020
A contemporary reported that Queen Elizabeth I translated Boethius, Plutarch, and more.
libraries

Found: A Manuscript Sloppily Edited by Queen Elizabeth I

Her Latin was impressive, but her cursive wasn't.
Isaac Schultz December 2, 2019
A 15th-century medical manuscript in Gaelic. No spaces here!
medieval

The Merriam-Webster of Medieval Irish Just Got a Major Update

A tiny group of scholars added 500 words and made 5,000 revisions to the Dictionary of the Irish Language.
Sabrina Imbler September 19, 2019
The Matenadaran and statue of Mesrop Mashtots.
Yerevan, Armenia

The Matenadaran

This medieval manuscript collection has some of the most obscure and ancient texts in the world.
Sculptures on a pillar in the Baroque library at Metten Abbey.
Metten, Germany

Baroque Library of Metten Abbey

This 8th-century Bavarian monastery is home to an exquisite Baroque-era library.
The Geneva Bible made its pilgrimage back to the U.S. with the help of the FBI.
libraries

Found: A 400-Year-Old Bible That Was Stolen From a Pennsylvania Library

It is one of hundreds of documents taken from the Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library collection.
Noor Al-Samarrai April 26, 2019
A medieval illustration of the bitter herbs traditionally eaten at the Passover Seder.
medieval

Look Inside a Precious Passover Haggadah From Medieval Italy

It's on public view for the first time since 1900.
Matthew Taub April 10, 2019
In an image from James Skinner's book on life in India, a surgeon works on the leg of a patient as he takes opium.
collections

Centuries of Persian Manuscripts, Now at Your Fingertips

A deep, cosmopolitan archive appears online for the first time.
Jonathan Carey April 2, 2019
Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun was a renowned supporter of the sciences.
objects of intrigue

3 Brothers From Baghdad and Their Remarkable 9th-Century Book of Inventions

A prescient relic of the Islamic Golden Age.
Jonny Keen April 2, 2019
The manuscript bound into the printed text.
medieval

Found: A Medical Manual Linking Medieval Ireland to the Islamic World

Knowledge transcends borders.
Noor Al-Samarrai March 6, 2019
Butterfly, Marine Mollusk, and Pear
objects of intrigue

See a Dazzling, Exuberant Renaissance Calligraphy Guide

A masterclass in script, illuminated with an array of curiosities.
Noor Al-Samarrai February 25, 2019
The note scribbled by William Melton of Joan's ruse and escape.
medieval

How a 14th-Century Nun Faked Her Own Death

Her escape was documented in the margins of a medieval manuscript.
Jonathan Carey February 18, 2019
Hand-drawn illustration of a blue passionflower.
manuscripts

A Forgotten Botanist’s Stunning 19th-Century Manuscript Is Now Online

It is considered one of the most comprehensive works on Cuba’s flora during the colonial period.
Jonathan Carey February 5, 2019