This manuscript ‘On the Law of Prize and Booty’ is an autograph, and it is an exciting example of how the content and use of the work are related to the physical condition of the object. The material characteristics were explored and safeguarded during a conservation treatment in 2015, prior to digitisation of the volume.
The manuscript has the nature of an autograph and a working document: parts of the text were crossed out, and intermediate and new texts were written on inserted loose leaves, to replace them. The volume thus consists of gatherings to which many loose leaves in different sizes were added throughout. It seems these gatherings and sheets remained unbound for a prolonged time.
[1 – opening before dismantling, showing inserts and corrections]