“It was a shock”
Because the papyrus fragment dates from around 260 BC – and is therefore around 400 years older than the oldest known document for binding in book form. “The earliest known specimens have been dated to between 150 and 250 AD and are in the British Library in London and the Chatter Beatty Library in Dublin,” says the researcher. “I was in shock when I realized what a historical piece I was studying,” she recalls. “Then a frenetic research began and only when I and my colleagues were sure that everything was correct did we really enjoy it.”
Sensational find in Graz – the oldest fragment of a book discovered to date
