Manuscripts in the Making. Art & Science. Volume One, ed. Stella Panaytotova and Paola Ricciardi. London and Turnhout: Harvey Miller, 2017, pp. 254.

This, the first of a planned two-volume set of thirty-four papers from the Fitzwilliam Museum’s conference (December 2016) at the University of Cambridge on the occasion of its bicentenary exhibit “Colour: The Art and Science of Illuminated Manuscripts” (<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/colour">http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/colour</ext-link>), contains half of the contributions (hereafter also referred to by paper and number). A publication of additional seven research articles has appeared in the journal Heritage Science and is available at <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://www.springeropen.com/collections/fitzwilliam2017">https://www.springeropen.com/collections/fitzwilliam2017</ext-link>. The museum’s self-description suggests, “illuminated manuscripts are the richest resources for the study of European painting between the sixth and the sixteenth century” (<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/colour">http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/colour</ext-link>). While the designation “richest resources” may be debated, the findings of the seven studies published here leave no doubt of the relevance for advanced, technologically enhanced research in the issues of what colors where produced in what manner by whom, where, when, and, lastly, why. The fact that a total of thirty-two individuals wrote these seven studies indicates the level of interdisciplinary collaboration. It is hoped that this publication might lead to other such endeavors.