Editing Voynich manuscript (section)

=== Parchment, covers, and binding ===
Samples from various parts of the manuscript were [[Radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon dated]] at the [[University of Arizona]] in 2009. The results were consistent for all samples tested and indicated a date for the parchment between 1404 and 1438.<ref name=voynich.nu_origin /> Protein testing in 2014 revealed that the parchment was made from calfskin, and multispectral analysis showed that it had not been written on before the manuscript was created (i.e., it is not a [[palimpsest]]). The quality of the parchment is average and has deficiencies, such as holes and tears, common in parchment codices, but was also prepared with so much care that the skin side is largely indistinguishable from the flesh side.<ref name=voynich.nu_origin>{{cite web |last=Zandbergen |first=René |title=The origin of the Voynich MS |url=http://www.voynich.nu/origin.html#n04 |website=Voynich.nu |date=11 May 2016 |access-date=8 June 2016 |archive-date=11 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211232255/http://voynich.nu/origin.html#n04 |url-status=live}}</ref> The parchment is prepared from "at least fourteen or fifteen entire calfskins".<ref name="EamonDuffy" />

Some [[folio]]s (such as 42 and 47) are thicker than the usual parchment.<ref name=voynich.nu_carbon>{{cite web |last=Zandbergen |first=René |title=The Radio-Carbon Dating of the Voynich MS |url=http://www.voynich.nu/extra/carbon.html |website=Voynich.nu |date=11 May 2016 |access-date=8 June 2016 |archive-date=4 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804003815/http://www.voynich.nu/extra/carbon.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

The goat skin binding and covers<ref>{{cite web |last=Zandbergen |first=René |title=About the binding of the MS |url=http://www.voynich.nu/descr.html#cover |website=Voynich.nu |date=27 May 2016 |access-date=9 June 2016 |archive-date=17 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817040619/http://voynich.nu/descr.html#cover |url-status=live}}</ref> are not original to the book, but date to its possession by the [[Roman College|Collegio Romano]].<ref name="MS 408" /> Insect holes are present on the first and last folios of the manuscript in the current order and suggest that a wooden cover was present before the later covers. Discolouring on the edges points to a tanned leather inside cover.<ref name=voynich.nu_origin />