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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 057: Lectionary

medieval manuscript fragment written on parchment with black ink, with a large initial in blue ink (recto)

Contents: Contains part of the readings for Passion Week

Fragmenta Manuscripta 037: Bible, glossed

medieval manuscript leaf fragment on parchment written in brown ink and two columns, with two letter sizes (recto)

Contents: Contains I Samuel 6 and commentary.

Fragmenta Manuscripta 119: Sins, Head to Toe

Medieval parchment fragment written in one column in brown ink (recto).

50 long lines, bounding lines, with ink ruling.

Fragmenta Manuscripta 129: Prayer

Medieval parchment fragment with text in one column in black ink (recto).

One column visible with 15 visible lines recto, 6 verso, with bounding lines, recto and verso ruled separately with penpoint.

Fragmenta Manuscripta 215: Legal document

Medieval manuscript fragment on rectangular parchment in brown ink with one column and 12 lines of text. Two lines with signatures.<br /> (recto)<br />

One column with 12 lines of text and 2 signature lines.

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

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.

Fragmenta Manuscripta 196: Legal document

Medieval paper fragment on brown ink in a secretarial cursive script with text in French and Latin. (recto)

No ruling or bounding lines.

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