Our knowledge of medieval manuscripts is limited to the few that remain in the world, and as such the information presented here is factual but open to interpretation.  There were many ways to produce a manuscript, and undoubtedly far more than we yet know, or perhaps can ever know.  From the initial slaughter of the calf to create vellum to the final addition of the chain to prevent theft, manuscripts went through countless steps and countless hands before reaching their final stages. Even beyond this point, they were not free from editing, and thousands were doubtless changed and even destroyed in the last few hundred years. 

What we do know about the creation of manuscripts is that it was a tedious, trying process that cost a great deal of money and time.  As a result of these trials, however, we retain stories and knowledge from our forefathers that would not have been available to us but for their efforts. Men and women may die, but the stories in the manuscripts have proven to be immortal, manifesting themselves in the modern era in vessels of flesh and wood. 

- Logan Quigley, Purdue University
2013