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@gutenberg.org Sep 19, 2026, 10:13 AM

To read 2,000-year-old burned scrolls, scientists burn their own

by Robert Sanders

phys.org/news/2026-09...

Original article:
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

#old_Manuscripts #science #tomography

Heruclaneum Papyrus 1521 f001r, British Library. The seven fragments, recovered and published in Piaggio’s workshop in Italy, were part of a gift containing a number of scrolls that King Ferdinand of Naples had sent to George IV of England in exchange for a royal giraffe for his private zoo. Scroll contains a portion of a work by the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (341–270 BCE).

Framed carbonized Herculaneum papyrus fragment ("Papyrus 1521") from the British Library, preserved after Vesuvius's 79 CE eruption. Blackened and fragile, with handwritten Italian cataloguing notes in the margins from early scholarly study of the Herculaneum scrolls.

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