Jiří Vnouček:The Prague Sacramentary - from manuscript folia back to animal skins.

The parchment of the Prague Sacramentary, a Carolingian manuscript from the 8th to the 9th century, offers us the chance to reconstruct the folios of the manuscripts back into the shape of the sheep skins that were used for its manufacture. This has been made possible thanks to the very visible and characteristic striation marks caused by the strokes of the parchment maker's knife that can still be seen on the surface of the folios. It is also possible to recognise other interesting features on the folios that are characteristic for the production of early medieval parchment. A detailed visual examination enables us to distinguish parchments from different periods of production.

The observation of reconstructed skins and the layout of the written text yields interesting information about the way in which parchment was formed into bifolia and organised into quires. The sizes and shapes of the sheep skins almost make it possible to determine the approximate size of the actual animals, and they give a clear indication of the how many were used in the production of the manuscript.

For the virtual reconstruction of the skins use was made of a digital copy of the manuscript so that the unique and very fragile binding of the manuscript could be left untouched.
This study is an attempt to understand parchment and the manner of its manufacture. An evaluation of the historical evidence recorded in the parchment may in the future be able to enrich codicological descriptions and assist in the comparison of various groups of medieval manuscripts.