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MEDIEVAL ENGLISH LITERARY MANUSCRIPTS




Manuscript Terminology

Determining What Manuscripts Exist for a Medieval English Text

Finding Microfilms or Facsimiles of MSS owned by the U of R Libraries

Some Useful Books


MANUSCRIPT TERMINOLOGY


A manuscript is a document written by hand.

Parchment is a writing material produced from the hides of cows, goats, or sheep. Parchment has a hair side (usually distinguishable by the presence of follicles) and a flesh side. The term "parchment" derives from Pergamum, an ancient city in Asia Minor (now Bergama in Turkey) where parchment is said to have been first produced.

Vellum is fine parchement made from calfskin, lambskin or kidskin (though high-quality parchment from adult animals is sometimes referred to as "vellum").

Paper was introduced into the Iberian peninsula by the Muslims in the tenth century. It was not until the late fourteenth century that it was in widespread use in Europe.

Illumination refers to the illustration of mss. with paintings or ornamentation. Paintings in mss. are often called "miniatures." "Miniature" derives from the verb miniare, "to color with red lead."

A rubric is a heading of a section, chapter, or other part of a ms. or book done or underlined in a color (usually red--the term comes from Latin ruber, "red") different from the rest of the ms.

A sheet forms two leaves; a page is one side of a leaf. The right-hand page of the folio is the recto (from the ablative of the Latin rectus). The lefthand page is the verso (short for verso folio, on the turned leaf). When the recto and verso are referred to in locating a particular work in a ms., the abbreviations r and v are usually used (sometimes a and b are used instead of r and v). Thus Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is on ff. 91r-124v (or 91a-124b) of Ms. Cotton Nero A.x.

A holograph is a manuscript handwritten by the author.

A colophon is an inscription written by a scribe, usually at the end of a manuscript.

An incunabulum is a book printed before 1501. Printing was introduced into Europe in the fifteenth century. The first printing press in Europe was operated by Johannes Gutenberg, beginning in about 1450. The first printing press in England was that of William Caxton, set up in Westminster in 1476. Type font and design of early printed books were influenced by manuscripts.

DETERMINING WHAT MANUSCRIPTS EXIST FOR A MEDIEVAL TEXT


Some basic sources for finding what manuscripts there are for a particular work:

Old English texts:

Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon by N. R. Ker. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957). (Robbins Z106.K39c)

A Manual of Old English Prose by Karen J. Quinn and Kenneth P. Quinn. (New York: Garland, 1990). (Robbins PR221.Q5 1990)


Middle English Texts:

A Manual of the Writings in Middle English 1050-1500

Middle English Lyrics:

The Index of Middle English Verse by Carleton Brown and Rossell Hope Robbins. New York: Printed for The Index Society by Columbia University Press, 1943. (Robbins and Reference PR1203.B87in)

Supplement to the Index of Middle English Verse by Rossell Hope Robbins and John L. cutler. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1965. (Robbins and Reference PR1203.B87in suppl.)

FINDING MICROFILMS OR FACSIMILES OF MEDIEVAL MSS OWNED BY THE U of R LIBRARIES


Prepared by Tom Hickman


Manuscript Searching in Voyager:

Records for manuscripts may be found by doing an author search based on the name of the repository that has the manuscript. Use the name of the repository followed by the word "manuscript" and the name and/or number of the manuscript.

Examples:

MS Bodley 343
Search as:
bodleian Library manuscript bodley 343.
This will give you the records for the specific manuscript.
bodleian library manuscript
This will give you a list of all the records for manuscripts in the Bodleian Library.

Bodleian Library, MS Digby 86
Search as:
bodleian library manuscript digby 86
This retrieves three records, 2 facsimile reprints and a microfilm of the manuscript.

British Library additional manuscript 60577
Search as:
british Library manuscript additional 60577
or
british library manuscript additional
This will give a list of all the Additional manuscripts the library owns in microfilm or facsimile.

British Library Cotton Nero A. x
Search as:
british library manuscript cotton nero a. x

British Museum MS Harley 2253
Manuscripts that were in the British Museum have been transferred to the British Library.

Search as:
british library manuscript harley 2253

MS Gg.4.27, Cambridge University Library
Search as:
cambridge university library manuscript gg.4.27

MS.C.C.C.C. 444 (Manuscript at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University)
Search as:
corpus christi college university of cambridge manuscript 444

Corpus Christi College, Oxford, ms. 197
Search as:
corpus christi college university of oxford manuscript 197



NOTE: The Robbins Library owns some microforms of mss. in collections that are not analyzed; that is, individual ms. names will not appear in Voyager. Guides to these collections are available in the Robbins Library:

Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts in Microfiche Facsimile.

British Literary Manuscripts from the British Library, London. Series three: The Medieval Age, c. 1150-1500.

The Early and Central Middle Ages, c. 650-c.1200AD: The Manuscript Record. Parts One and Two: Manuscripts from Cambridge University Library.

British Literary Manuscripts from Cambridge University Library. Series One: The Medieval Age, c. 1150-1500.

British Literary Manuscripts from the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh. Part One: Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts c. 1300-c.1700.

SOME USEFUL BOOKS



On punctuation in manuscripts:
Pause and Effect: An Introduction to the History of Punctuation in the West by M. B. Parkes. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993. (Robbins P301.5 .P86 P37 1993)

On abbreviations in manuscripts:
The Elements of Abbreviation in Medieval Latin Paleography (translation of Lexicon abbreviatuarum) by Adriano Cappelli. Lawrence: University of Kansas Libraries, 1982. (Robbins and Rhees Z111.C261 1982)

To determine locations of manuscripts for which the common name is known:
Ocelli Nominum: Names and Shelf Marks of Famous/Familiar Manuscripts by Wilma Fitzgerald. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1992. (Robbins Reference Z106.F565)

Paleographic Handbooks:
English Cursive Book Hands 1250-1500 by M. B. Parkes. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969. (Robbins Z115.E5 P37)

English Vernacular Hands: From the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Centuries by C. E. Wright. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960. (Robbins and Rhees Z115E.W94e)




Please address comments, questions, and suggestions to Alan Lupack (alupack@ rcl.lib.rochester.edu).