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Creasy Spines

“Every crease is a story.”

Illustration of the kind of find described. We don't reproduce press photographs.
Letter· 15th century

A ‘Spider King’ letter disguised as a scrap in a binding

By the Editors · As reported by University of Toronto Libraries, 2 March 2026

FoundToronto, Canada
A parchment fragment in the binding of a book at Massey College’s Robertson Davies Library in Toronto went unremarked for years. When researchers Jessica Lockhart and Chana Algarvio scanned it with the University of Toronto’s multispectral imaging system, faded handwriting and fold lines emerged. Professor Sebastian Sobecki identified it as part of a fifteenth-century letter from the court of Louis XI of France, the king nicknamed the Spider King for his web of intrigues.

This is our summary of a find reported in the press. For the full story, photographs and any updates, read the original report in University of Toronto Libraries.

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