The Icelandic scholar and antiquarian Arni Magnusson (1663-1730) - Arnas Magaeus in Latinized form - spent much of his life building up what is by common consent the single most important collection of early Scandinavian manuscripts in existence. The collection, now divided between Copenhagen and Reykjavik, comprises nearly 3,000 items, with the earliest dating from the 12th century. The majority of these are from Arni's native Iceland, but there are also many important Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish manuscripts, along with a small number of continental European provenance. This book explores how Arni Magnusson's great passion for parchment developed, placing it in the intellectual context of Arni's own time. Based largely on Arni's correspondence and notes on the manuscripts in his collection, the book offers a rare insight into this complex and intriguing man who did more than anyone else to ensure the survival of Old Norse Icelandic literature. (Series: The Viking Collection - Vol. 20)