Hesiod's Work and Days 6th century book copy found hidden

Researchers have uncovered the writings inside a medieval manuscript using a new imaging technique. The book was a copy of Greek poet Hesiod's Work and Days printed in Venice in 1537, and it has two columns of writing surrounded by marginal comments on the book board - which the bookbinder likely tried to remove through washing or scraping. By combining two different imaging techniques, it was revealed that text on the book's board was sixth-century Roman Law code, with interpretive notes referring to the Canon Law written in the margins. It was revealed that combining the two methods initially used: Visible hyperspectral imaging (bottom left) with x-ray fluorescence imaging (top right) - provided the best image of the text. The study, conducted by researchers based at the Northwestern University-Art Institute of Chicago Center for Scientific Studies (NU-ACCESS), was published in the journal Analytics Chimica Acta.