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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 083: Psalter

Medieval manuscript fragment on aged parchment written in one column of Gothic text. Large red initial and text in red and black inks.<br /> (recto)

Contents: Contains Ps. 123

Bible

Contents: Contains Matthew 27:2; with designation for three Palm Sunday readers.

Missal

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 124: Martyrologium

Medieval parchment fragment written in brown ink with a red initial and a line of text written in red (recto).

One column visible with 13 visible lines, with bounding lines and ruling in ink (side of impression is indiscernable).

Fragmenta Manuscripta 029: Psalter

Medieval manuscript leaf fragment in black ink with red letters and a large ornamental initial D (recto)

Contents: Text begins with Ps. 37:20, "sunt super me," etc.; contains Pss. 37-39.

Fragmenta Manuscripta 019: Enarrationes in Psalmos

Medieval manuscript leaf fragment written in black ink, two columns, on parchment. Lead ruling visible (recto)

Contents: Contains part of commentary on Ps. 74.

Fragmenta Manuscripta 111: Bible

medieval parchment fragment written in two columns with black ink. Right margin is cut off from the folio (recto)

Two columns with 53 visible lines, with bounding lines and ink ruling on verso (flesh).

Fragmenta Manuscripta 187: Theological Text

Medieval parchment fragment with partial lines of text in a Gothic hand and in dark ink. The end of each line has a diagonal red line and there are red strokes on each initial. (recto)

One column visible with 21 visible lines, with bounding lines, with recto and verso ruled separately (with ink ?).

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