medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Just for entertainment value, in Muirchui´s (I think, and please pardon the spelling) life of St. Patrick,
Patrick suggests to a druid that they prove the power of their respective religions by throwing their books into the water. The Druid refuses, because 'water is a god of his' (i.e. of Patrick´s). They end up having a fire ordeal instead. But maybe this shows that the idea of waterproof books was around at the time.
A more recent anecdote: a teacher of mine (better leave him nameless!) was once examining the rolls, written on heavy parchment, of some venerable institution in its library, which actually (!!!) let him have a cup of tea on the table as well. The predictable happened: the tea spilled, and my teacher, greatly chagrined, rushed to the librarian to confess and ask what to do. 'Just wipe them off with a hanky,' he was told, 'they´re quite waterproof.' !
All the best,
Meg