The British Library holds a large collection of pre-10th-century manuscripts and a small amount of printed material on paper. A small proportion of the collection was mounted prior to 1960 using unstable and unsuitable materials which have to be removed. This previously mounted material shows the characteristic cracking of any paper material that is lined and rolled. There is also cause for concern in the loss of evidence when elements in the paper become contaminated with modern material, which would make any analysis now very difficult. The greater part of this collection has not been tampered with and the paper sets out the Library's present policy of preservation with reference to this type of material. -- AATA