The leaf illustrated here typifies the decoration of "University" Bibles produced in Paris, primarily during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, in the regular cadence of its Gothic script and in its palette of red and blue accented with gold, combining delicate leafwork with charming imaginary creatures.

One of three leaves recently acquired as gifts, the page represents the opening chapter of the Book of Nehemias. In the historiated initial illustrating the beginning of the book that bears his name, Nehemias, cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes, kneels before the king and receives permission to make the journey to Jerusalem to oversee the rebuilding of the city walls.

Complete codices as well as individual leaves from University Bibles survive today in relatively large numbers, the volumes having been disbound in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by bibliophiles, dealers, collectors, and educators. It was the intention of Otto Ege, a previous owner of the Metropolitan's leaves and a self-proclaimed "Biblioclast," to increase awareness of the history of the book through the dissemination of individual pages to schools, libraries, calligraphers, and printers.