Stains, Holes, Tears

The "second" hole referenced to the right can be clearly seen to the bottom-left of the decorated "T".

There are not many significant holes in Barnard 1, but there are a few curious examples which have unknown origins. Most notably is the pair of deep holes found on the very first page of the manuscript, which are very deep. The first main hole (located near the upper-left, within the text) penetrates the first five pages, whereas the second (found in the third line of notation) penetrates the first six pages, ending on page number 11. They are pasted over on the first page only, an effort at correction that is impossible to date, but certainly predates Barnard College's acquisition of the manuscript.

The origin of these holes is unclear. The current binding of the manuscript is almost definitely not original, so it is possible that the original binding would have had clasps or other apparati which may have penetrated these pages accidentally.

Page 4. Stain is clearly visible in the center of the top of the page, with a smaller stain to the left.

Stains are also an issue. The "left" half of the first folded quire of Barnard 1 has a consistent stain in the center of the pages, pictured to the right. The damage here is inconsistent with a water stian, and oil is more likely. Again, the source of this stain is unclear, though it could be related also to the book's previous binding. Assuming that the original binding had clasps of some kind, if it was affixed with leather straps, these would have required oiling. One can easily imagine the book being closed over the freshly-oiled leather straps, thus staining the first half of the first quire. Presumably, this stain would have been much larger, since the top margin of the manuscript has been significantly trimmed since its creation.