The Black Book of Carmarthen: Scholars left shaken after ultraviolet light reveals ghostly faces staring at them from medieval manuscripts

Scholars researching one of the UK’s most important medieval manuscripts were left surprised if not a little shaken last year when the use of ultraviolet light revealed two ghostly faces staring out at them from one of the pages.

The discovery of the sketches – not seen since they were erased in the 16th century from the Black Book of Carmarthen – came as a “complete surprise” to the two researchers.
The book, which is held in the National Library of Wales and dates from 1250, is the earliest surviving manuscript written solely in Welsh and contains some of the earliest references to King Arthur and Merlin. Its name comes from the colour of its binding.
Professor Paul Russell, from the University of Cambridge’s department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, and PhD student Myriah Williams have worked on unlocking the manuscript’s secrets using different imaging techniques for three years.
The faces, circled, on the the manuscript page (Stuart Roberts)
Using ultraviolet light and photo-editing software, huge swathes of notes in the margins, erased more than five centuries ago, have been revealed. As well as the drawings of the faces, another important discovery is a hitherto unknown Welsh poem. A run through a database of known verse has come up with no match, suggesting it is an original work .
Professor Russell said the findings were “very exciting” adding: “Now we know this material is there, we can do a lot of things to bring it back.”
He spoke of the discovery of the sketches last summer. “We were looking at the text with the ultraviolet lamp and this pair of faces emerged in the bottom margin. It was actually quite creepy with them peering back. We thought: ‘Who are you?’”
The scholars do not know who the faces represent but dated them to the 14th or 15th century. Alongside them is an inscription that suggests the donation of the book to a family member. A few pages further on, a sketch of a fish emerged under the ultraviolet light.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-black-book-of-carmarthen-scholars-left-shaken-after-ultraviolet-light-reveals-ghostly-faces-staring-at-them-from-medieval-manuscripts-10147622.html