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University of Missouri

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.

Clay tablet with wedge-shaped writing

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

Fragmenta Manuscripta 107: Breviary

Medieval parchment fragment written in one column with dark brown ink, red ink, and with larger initials in red and blue (recto).

One column visible with 32 visible lines, with bounding lines plus outer bounding line 4 mm to right, leadpoint ruling on verso.

Fragmenta Manuscripta 212: Book of Hours

Medieval manuscript fragment on parchment in brown ink and Humanistic script, written in Latin. It includes a border in gold and a word underlined in red. (recto)

Contents: Contains a long prayer to the Virgin, addressing moments of salvation history, each prefaced by an invocation, "Vera virgo et mater quae…

Lectionary

Contents: Contains readings for the feast of Cyprianus and Justina.

Fragmenta Manuscripta 126: Psalter, ferial

Medieval parchment fragment written in one column with black ink, with an initial in blue ink and red ink punctuation marks (recto).

One column visible with 28 visible lines, neither bounding lines nor ruling marks discernable.

Antiphonal

Contents: Contains material for services at Ascension and the vigil of Pentecost; Music: Neumes

Bible

Contents: Contains part of Exodus.

Lectionary for the office

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

Fragmenta Manuscripta 032: Bible, glossed

Medieval manuscript leaf fragment written in black ink, two columns, over white parchment. Two letter sizes and marginal notes present (recto)

Contents: Contains part of the gospel of John with commentary.

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