Thank you so much to Tudor Society member Mary for asking this question. Mary’s full question was “I’ve often wondered why certain old texts/manuscripts are only handled with gloved hands, while others are not. Can someone explain?”

This is something I can explain as I researched it a couple of years ago because I had comments when I shared a video of a historian touching a medieval manuscript without gloves. Those who viewed it were horrified, but archives’ policies have changed and it’s all for the best, to keep these precious manuscripts safe from harm so that they can be enjoyed by many more generations to come.