Skip to navigation Skip to content

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 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…

Fragmenta Manuscripta 191: Death of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Small rectangular parchment fragment with two lines of red text in a cursive hand. (recto)

Explicit: f. 1r Transitus sive assumptio gloriose virginis marie Prohemium cuius incipit feliciter.; f. 1v [I]n tempore illo quo deus ad passionem…

Fragmenta Manuscripta 055: Bible, glossed

Medieval manuscript on aged parchment with two colums of black Gothic script, one large goldleaf initial and one large blue initial. (recto)

Contents: Contains part of Act; main text has gloss; none on the prologues.

Philosophical Text

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…

Medical Text

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 136: Philosophical Text

Medieval parchment fragment written in one column in black ink with numerous marginal annotations in brown ink.

One column of text, with marginal and interlinear commentary, no visible bounding lines or ruling marks.

Fragmenta Manuscripta 204: Chronogram

Paper fragment with 6 lines and a signature in black ink.<br />

Contents: Pertains to the battle of Dunbar, 3 September 1650.

Fragmenta Manuscripta 109: Bible

Medieval parchment fragment written in one column with black ink that has the letters QRQR written in red ink with blue decorative lines (recto).

One column visible with 25 visible lines, with bounding lines with recto and verso ruled separately with ink

Browse More Items