As an art-historian and exhibition-curator who has dealt intensively with medieval manuscripts, I have also started a collection of single illuminated leaves, buying my first leaf twenty years ago, at age 18. Lik you, I was surprised at the amount of material out there. Even though some leaves were removed from their original manuscripts decades ago (in rare occasions even centuries), it is definitely true that unscrupulous dealers still cut up manuscripts. I make it a point not to buy from such dealers when I know they are prone to this behaviour – although it is sometimes difficult to find out, as no dealer will voluntarily admit to this sort of behaviour. My advice would be to ask other collectors you may know if they can help you find dealers that you can trust, dealers whom you know to have as much respect for the items as you do – if you don’t know any other collectors, I’d be happy to provide you with info on dealers. Meanwhile, I do intensely enjoy my collection, and I take good care of it, by either carefully framing leaves for display – and again this can only be done by an experienced framer who delivers museum-quality frames and uses only acid-free and reversible materials – or making special mounts for them, which in turn are kept in larger clamshell boxes for protection. Whenever possible I use my medieval leaves in teaching, lend them to exhibitions and invite seriously interested people to my home to see them.

Good luck with shaping your collection,

Rob Dückers (NL)