The Livre de Prières, made in Lyon in 1886-87, is a prayer book in the style of medieval books of hours, but its pages are woven, not handwritten or printed. It was produced on Jacquard looms, machines that read holes punched in cards to control which threads are lifted, and which are considered forerunners of computer programming. Hundreds of thousands of punch cards directed the weaving of black and grey silk threads to create the text and imagery. A local priest, Jean Hervier, drew the designs, and weaver Joseph-Alphonse Henry and editor Antoine Roux made the book. It celebrated Lyon's jubilee of 1886 and its silk industry, joining a luxury medieval tradition with modern machinery.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.