Word: vellum
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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...either edge of the U. S. are two of the greatest private libraries in the world. The Huntington Library in Pasadena and the Morgan Library in Manhattan are keen rivals. But in illuminated vellum manuscripts of the 9th to the 16th centuries the Morgan Library stands supreme. By the terms of the Elder Morgan's will they have been available to duly accredited scholars for many years. They are not, nor can they ever be, available to the public. In 1924 when the Morgan Library was handed over to a group of trustees as a semi-public institution...
...week the public could view the manuscripts and cough its head off without danger of damage. To the Public Library under armed guard were moved 150 of the Morgan treasures to be placed in cloth-lined cases, each with a wet sponge in a little dish to keep the vellum leaves from cracking...
...nigh perfect imitation not only of the manuscript writing and illumination but also of the binding. It would be impossible for the casual observer to distinguish it from the genuine article: the binding was of old, dried leather, the clasp of tarnished brass, and the pages of real-looking vellum...
...only 250 copies, printed on Japanese Vellum...
Rarer, though a shade less precious than the Tikytt psalter, were the Blickling Homilies, only Anglo-Saxon manuscript in the U. S., a volume of 149 vellum pages written by two scribes about 971. For it Barnet J. Beyer, Manhattan bookdealer, paid $55,000. For $45,000 he also got what was described as "the most important early illustrated book ever sold at auction"-Boccaccio's De La Ruine des Nobles hommes et femmes. Translated by Pierre Faivre, it was the first dated book (1476) with copperplate illustrations. Disposal of the Boccaccio was complicated by the competition...