Guided Tour: The Book of Hidden Stories

Prayer Book (Dala'il al-Khayrat), Morocco, 19th century. Gilt and embossed leather binding; opaque watercolour, ink and gold on paper, Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, AKM535. Note the shade chart at the bottom of the digital image. Such charts are used as colour calibration targets to make sure digital images of artifacts are accurate.

Traversing this digital exhibit will be like reading a book. Begin with the routes and travellers of the Silk Roads. Draw a little closer and look at the closed book. Turn to its covers. Then open the book and examine its shape. Touch the pages: What material are they made of? What kind of writing do you encounter? What writing technologies produced the text? Finally, dive into the book and read its hidden stories.