The material on the covers of books from a French abbey was too hairy to have come from calves or other local mammals.

An international team of archaeologists, bioinformatic specialists, and historians has discovered that many medieval books ...

A scientific analysis of dozens of 12th- and 13th-century books found in European monasteries reveals they were bound in sealskins procured by Norse traders from as far away as Greenland.

Strange “hairy” covers of books in medieval Europe were made from seal skin obtained from Viking descendants, a new study has found. It is rare to find medieval manuscripts in their original ...