A medieval manuscript depicting early versions of the King Arthur legends is making its way to auction, where it's expected to go for millions of pounds. The book, which features depictions of Merlin, Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, and more is being put up for auction by the auction house Christie's.
After spending centuries in the hands of private owners, the book will go up for auction in July. Institutions will have the opportunity to buy the work, as per TheGuardian, so it's expected that this manuscript will no longer have a private owner by the time the gavel falls.
Written in Old French, it's probably not the best book to buy for a simple afternoon read. It does have 126 miniature illustrations, though, so you can look at the pictures if you prefer. The manuscript is thought to have been made at the end of the 13th century. The miniatures are printed on vellum and made with gold leaf, used to make them shine even centuries after they were first put to the page.
Dr Irene Fabry-Tehranchi, a specialist in French texts at Cambridge University Library, said that private ownership of such a book can prevent further research. "I hope that ... it will finally become available in a public collection. The problem is, of course, that nowadays libraries and heritage institutions don't have very much money. [But] these institutions are there to preserve these texts and to make them publicly available," she said.