It’s Not Just Pups…

who damage books. This is a 15th-century manuscript that a cat left its paw prints on:

That’s not as bad as another scribe writing in 1420. After he had left for the day a cat peed on his work and doused it in urine. The page couldn’t be salvaged but the scribe left it in. He drew a crude picture of the cat and wrote the following in Latin:

Here is nothing missing, but a cat urinated on this during a certain night. Cursed be the pesky cat that urinated over this book during the night in Deventer, and because of it, many [other cats did] too. …beware well not to leave open books at night where cats can come.
Misty Gruber

That sounds like good advice!

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12 Responses to It’s Not Just Pups…

  1. Cats haven’t changed over the centuries. The cat was probably jealous over the time the scribe spent working on the book.

  2. Bruce Taylor says:

    That cat was just a budding book critic giving his opinion.

  3. Myra Guca says:

    Oh yukkkkk! I’ll bet a dog wouldn’t do that.

  4. MadSnapper says:

    that is exactly what I thought when first reading this, it is up to humans to put the books out of reach from pups and kittens… I am still thinking about Tempis latest adventure. there is a child book in there somewhere

  5. That was quite the book review by that kitty!

  6. Ann Thompson says:

    Cats have a long history of doing things they shouldn’t.

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