Manuscript Collections

Special Collections maintains a small collection of manuscripts that date from antiquity to the present. The collection is intended to demonstrate the physical characteristics of the book before printing, and it contains a wide variety of scripts and materials from various time periods. From antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, the collection includes:

Eight cuneiform tablets from the Ur III and Old Babylonian periods
Around a dozen manuscripts in book form, ranging in date from ca. 1150 to ca. 1600
Over 200 leaves and fragments, including seventeenth century book collector John Bagford’s manuscript leaves and fragments, Fragmenta Manuscripta, dating from the eighth to the seventeenth century
A handful of leaves from the Koran, palm leaf manuscripts, and other examples of manuscripts from non-Western cultures

Finding Aids for Manuscript Collections

Cuneiform tablets.

Special Collections holds eight cuneiform tablets whose exact provenance is unknown. Six of the tablets date from the Ur III period (2100-2000 BCE),…

Fragmenta Manuscripta Collection.

Medieval manuscript fragment on parchment with Latin text in brown and red links and early musical notation<br />

Fragmenta Manuscripta is a collection of over 200 manuscript leaves and fragments dating from the eighth to the seventeenth century. Originally…

Literary and Historical Manuscripts

Special Collections holds modern manuscript materials in the form of books, correspondence, and personal papers. These materials were collected at…

Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts.

Special Collections maintains a small collection of European manuscripts intended to demonstrate the physical characteristics of the manuscript books,…

Pages from the Past Collection

Pages from the Past is a collection of original manuscript and rare book leaves compiled and sold by a New York book dealer Alfred W. Stites from 1964…

Selected Items

Lectionary for the office

Explicit: In tribus noctibus ante pascha domini leguntur tres primae lectiones in una quaque nocte declamationes Hierimie prophetae

Psalter

Contents: Contains Pss. 89, 90.

Fragmenta Manuscripta 112: Sermon (on saints?)

Medieval parchment fragment written in two columns in a brown ink (recto).

Two columns separated by 10 mm with 37 lines, with bounding lines and with leadpoint ruling on verso (flesh).

Fragmenta Manuscripta 201: Volvelle

Circular volvelle on paper with Roman numerals written in brown ink and with 17 lines radiating from the center.<br />

Contents: Possibly intended as sundial.

Fragmenta Manuscripta 205: Notes

Early modern paper fragment in black ink with a Humanistic cursive hand written in Latin.<br />

Number of scribes, f. 1r-v: 1.
Layout, f. 1r-v: One column visible with 14 visible lines, no ruling or bounding lines.

Fragmenta Manuscripta 030: Medical text

Medieval manuscript leaf fragment written in black ink, two columns, with several initials in red and blue inks and with lead ruling (recto)

Provenance: John Bagford (1650s-1716) to St. Martin-in-the-Fields; sale 1861 to Sir Thomas Phillipps, n.15758; his sale 22 May, 1913, lot 742; Sir…

Fragmenta Manuscripta 116: Bible

Medieval parchment page written in two columns in black ink (recto)

Two columns with 46 lines plus 2 headlines at top, verso, with bounding lines and dividing line between columns, recto and verso ruled separately with…