A manuscript exists once. A copy on the wall is decoration, the sheet is the piece. In the overview Security for collectors, it sits with drawing and letter, with even less replacement.

What breaks without a thief

Light, acid, moisture, a crease, ink that bleeds. You store flat, acid-free, dark. You stick nothing on the sheet, not even a "careful" label. The writing sits on the folder, not on the paper.

When someone comes

Light, quiet, looks like paper. The expensive bundle lies in the document cabinet, not on the open shelf with the label "Manuscripts". Origin and proof lie as a copy outside and, in the original, at a second place in the house.

The folder

Author, extent in sheets, dating, what the text is about in one sentence, origin, proof. A photo of every page or, for a thick bundle, a list you can follow. Without a list, after a loss, you cannot say what was missing.