Use this palaeographic utility to apply a stated dating, script, abbreviation, codicological, metrological, layout, or condition rule consistently while preparing manuscripts for scholarly review.

Top margin

Top margin in millimetres.

Bottom margin

Bottom margin in millimetres.

Inner margin

Inner (gutter-side) margin in millimetres.

Outer margin

Outer margin in millimetres.

Tolerance

Allowed deviation of each ratio from its target.

Rate measured margins against the classic codicological rule of thumb (outer about twice the inner, bottom about twice the top) with exact ratios and a stated default tolerance of 0.25 on each ratio. The tool evaluates the supplied inputs together and returns the named outputs below; it does not infer omitted operating conditions or change the units shown.^[1]

Outer/inner

Outer margin divided by inner margin.

Top/bottom

Top margin divided by bottom margin.

Follows 2:1 rule

True when both ratios sit within tolerance of the rule of thumb.

• Script and manuscript evidence varies by language, region, institution, period, scribe, material, restoration, and cataloguing convention. A heuristic flag or score is not an authoritative date, hand attribution, reading, provenance, or conservation diagnosis.
• Use finite inputs in the displayed units and preserve more precision than the final presentation requires. Independently verify safety-critical, financial, compliance, or production decisions.

Retain page images, scale, foliation, material, provenance, diplomatic transcription, uncertainty, and comparison exemplars; confirm conclusions with codicological context and specialist judgment.

• Iron-Gall Corrosion Grade Rater

  Rate iron-gall ink corrosion on the stated transparent rule: each of four indicators (ink loss, burn-through, halo bleeding, mechanical weakness of the sheet) is scored 0-3 by the observer, and the grade is the rounded mean with labels none/slight/moderate/severe for 0/1/2/3.

• Scribe Change Detector

  Flag a possible change of scribe under the stated rule: each metric (line spacing, letters per line) is compared by the symmetric percent deviation |a-b|/mean(a,b)*100, and a deviation above tolerance (default 5%) on either metric flags a change.

• Two-Column Gutter Checker

  Check whether two measured columns plus their gutter reproduce the full text-block width within a stated default tolerance of one millimetre and report the signed discrepancy and the exact column-width ratio.