have cost when they were new, in spite of the great additional value and interest which they have gained from their antiquity and comparative rarity. For example, a beautiful and perfectly preserved historical Anglo-Norman Vulgate of the thirteenth century, with its full number of eighty-two pictured initials, written on between six and seven hundred leaves of finest uterine vellum, can now commonly be purchased for from £30 to £40. This hardly represents the original value of the vellum on which the manuscript is written.
“Los manuscritos de índole más sencilla, por bellamente escritos que estén, si solo están decorados con iniciales azules y rojas, suelen venderse por bastante menos del costo original de su pergamino.
“Un coleccionista con auténticos conocimientos y aprecio por lo artísticamente bello puede quizás invertir su dinero con mayor provecho en la compra de manuscritos que adquiriendo obras de arte de cualquier otra clase, ya sean medievales o modernas.”23