I. Material, whether vellum, paper, or a mixture of the two.

Vellum, as the student will quickly notice, has two sides to it: an outer, on which the marks of the hairs are traceable, and an inner, which is quite smooth and even. These two sides generally alternate quite regularly. If they do not, there may prove to be a gap in the manuscript: this, however, is not quite necessarily the case. It is often useful, especially in the case of early manuscripts, to note the sequence of the “hair” and “flesh” sides of the vellum.

II. Size of the page, ruling, and number of lines of writing on a full page.

Ruling of lines is done either with a sharp dry point which makes a slight furrow in the vellum, or with a plummet, which makes a faint brown mark. Usually the page is spaced out for ruling with a pair of compasses, and a small puncture marks the end of each line.

III. Binding; material and style: method of fastening the volume up, if any: traces of chaining.

In cases where a book has been chained, and the old cover removed, so that no external trace of the chain is left, there will often be a mark of rust on the first or last leaves of the volume.