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The 1,100-Year-Old Alfred Jewel May Have Been a Manuscript Reading Pointer
The Alfred Jewel, a 1,100-year-old Anglo-Saxon object associated with King Alfred the Great, may have been a manuscript reading pointer rather than simply an elaborate piece of royal goldwork. The small object carries an unusually direct statement of royal patronage: “Alfred ordered me to be made.” Dating to between AD 871 and 899, the reign…
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Norway’s Oldest Book May Have Been Bound in Seal Skin: An 800-Year-Old Treasure Resurfaces
At first glance, it looked like a small, weathered booklet — nothing more. But when conservators at the National Library of Norway examined it, they realized they might be holding the country’s oldest surviving book: a 13th-century manuscript bound in fur-covered seal skin, handwritten on calf parchment, and still preserved in its original form. A…