Proof of better times…

… and worse times.

One of the manuscripts Rachel brought out for us to look at. The “rocket cat.” Actually a cat (and bird) drawn with petards as part of a castle siege. I think a plan thought of but never actually used: the bird can’t carry that much weight, and anyone with cats knows they wont run where you want them to…

But note the amazing colors still striking after hundreds of years. The benefit, Rachel told us, of velum rather than wood pulp paper. (And possibly poisonous dyes, I’m guessing.)