Rare books & manuscripts

The Scriptorium

Four rooms of things written down before writing was cheap. Margins illuminated by data-background="illuminated".

Room I · Antiquities

Before the Alphabet

A cartouche wall of borrowed gods and administrative grain counts. data-background="hieroglyph"

Room II · The laboratory

Solve et Coagula

Sigils, retorts, and the periodic table’s eccentric grandparents. data-background="alchemy"

Room III · Origins

First Marks

Ochre hands and running aurochs — the oldest backgrounds we know of. data-background="cave"