 The manuscript measures 12 @.@ 6 × 10 @.@ 4 inches ( 32 × 26 cm ) and most of the folios were originally gathered into quires of eight leaves each . In modern times it was rebound into sets of six leaves each . The material is thin , fine , and very beautiful vellum , often discoloured at the edges , which have been damaged by age and more so through the ignorance or carelessness of the modern binder , who has not always spared the text , especially at the upper inner margin . Scrivener noted that " The vellum has fallen into holes in many places , and since the ink peels off for very age whensoever a leaf is touched a little roughly , no one is allowed to handle the manuscript except for good reasons . " 
