Western Manuscripts

To provide a viewing environment for an ever increasing number of manuscripts, an interactive web application was built which allows use by scholars and students in the context of supporting descriptive material and bibliography.

To access the fully digitized version of the manuscripts, as they are finalised by us, please click on the titles in the list below.

MS 87 - Missal (Use of Sarum)

This early fifteenth-century Missal produced in England contains prayers, hymns, and biblical passages read by the priest during the celebration of the Latin Mass throughout the year. The “Use of Sarum” refers to the Anglo-Saxon and Norman liturgy codified in the eleventh century by St. Osmund, Bishop of Sarum (Salisbury).

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 88 - Augustine's Homilies on John (1167)

The homilies that constitute Augustine's commentary are masterpieces not only of theological profundity, but also of pastoral engagement. John's gospel allows Augustine to range broadly over themes that were his life's work: the Trinity, the person of Christ, the nature of the Church and its sacraments and the fulfilment of the divine plan. This codex was produced for, and belonged to, Buildwas abbey.

Detailed description of manuscript    
 

MS 89 - Ranulf Higden's Polychronicon

Early fifteenth-century manuscript of the Polychronicon, a famous medieval book written by the Benedictine monk and chronicler Ranulf Higden. The work is divided into seven books (in imitation of the seven days of Genesis) and is a summary of general history, offering fascinating insights as to what was known or believed at the time. Among the perhaps surprising remarks is the note that the Earth must be round, because it casts a round shadow on the moon during an eclipse.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 92 - Walter de Milemete, De Nobilitatibus, Sapientiis, et Prudentiis Regum (1326-27)

Milemete wrote his book on the nobility, wisdom and prudence of kings as an offering to King Edward III at the end of 1326. An ambitious project, the text is dominated by the decorative borders, crammed with heraldry, contorted hybrids, combats between man and man, man and beast, half-man and half-beast, hunting scenes and tournaments. It is one of the most beautifully illuminated manuscripts in the world and one in the highest demand by specialists.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 93 - The Hours of St Denis (1484-1501)

Richly illuminated manuscript written in French bastard secretary (lettre bâtarde). The scribe has not been previously identified but appears to be Jean Dubreuil. The decoration consists of over sixty images of scenes from the life, martyrdom, miracles, and translation of St Denis, each next to a text initial within a full border.

Detailed description of manuscript

MD 94 - Hours of the Virgin (Use of Rome)

Fifteenth-century handsomely illuminated prayer book for the laity used for private devotion. Originally, each of the hours was introduced by a full-page miniature, within a full flower and vine border. This manuscript clearly spent its early life in France. It reached Christ Church Library from William Wake, as is noted by a nineteenth-century pencil inscription.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 95 - Pauline Epistles, glossed

Early 10th-century manuscript. The Epistles are provided with the pre-Anselmian gloss that includes readings ascribed to ‘Lanfrancus’ (e.g. fol. 149) and ‘Berengarius’ (e.g. fol. 119). At the opening of each epistle, large pen and ink capitals, occupying half the central text space and often extending into the upper or lower margin. 12th-century leather, browned with age, over unbevelled wooden boards.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 98 - 'St Omer' or 'Rede' Psalter

A thirteenth-century manuscript written in 'gothic textura semiquadrata', the decoration of which includes a series of exceptionally fine historiated initials. The calendar points toward production for use in St Omer or its neighbourhood. The manuscript arrived in England by the early fourteenth century and, by the fifteenth century.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 99 - Historical Miscellanies

The volume compiled during the thirteenth century comprises five originally separate manuscripts, including Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, Aristotle's Secreta secretorum, and Pope Innocent III's De sacro altaris mysterio.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 100 - Hours of the Virgin, Use of Rome and prayers

Late 15th-century richly illuminated manuscript produced in France. All leaves have full borders, with vine and flower designs (some animals and birds) in a variety of colours. The prayers are divided by two-line champes in gold leaf with red and blue. At the openings of sections, seven-line illuminations: fol. 40: Jesus and the implements of the Crucifixion; fol. 212: John the evangelist with the poisoned cup; fol. 220v: Stephen holding an open book and palm branch; fol. 221: Laurence with a book and griddle; fol. 222: Anne teaching the Virgin to read. 17th-century purple velvet with an embroidered leaf design in gold and silver thread over millboards.

Detailed description of manuscript     
 

MS 101 - Epistolary of Thomas Wolsey (1528)

Among the most stunningly beautiful volumes housed at Christ Church is Thomas Wolsey's Epistle Lectionary, a 16th century manuscript richly illuminated in the Flemish style. This large folio still sparkles brightly in all the colours of the rainbow and is - literally - heavy with gold. The book contains readings from the Epistles for a number of feast days throughout the year.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 114 - Virgil's Eclogues and Georgics (1456)

Written in a humanist littera antiqua by the Italian scribe Matteo Contugi of Volterra, the manuscript contains the texts of Virgil's Eclogues (a collection of pastoral poems) and the Georgics (a didactic poem on farming). The codex is the companion volume to Christ Church MS 113, also part of Christ Church Library special collections.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 131 - David Gregory's Notae in Newtoni Principia Mathematica [...] (1695)

This is a transcript of David Gregory's Notes on Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica, composed, it is said at Newton's request. Apart from this, the manuscript also includes works on astronomy, geometry and fluxions. David Gregory graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1683 and was elected to the mathematical chair there. He was the first professor who publicly lectured on the Newtonian philosophy. In 1692, through the combined influence of Newton and Flamsteed, Gregory took the degrees of M.A. and M.D. at Oxford, and became master commoner of Balliol College. During the same year, he was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. One of his principal works, Astronomiæ Physicæ et Geometricæ Elementa, was published, with a dedication to Prince George of Denmark, in Oxford in 1702. It was the first textbook composed on gravitational principles, and remodelling astronomy in conformity with physical theory. The present volume contains the following works: Notae in Newtoni Principia Mathematica Philosophiæ Naturalis (ff. 1r-150v). Addenda Notis A suis locis reponenda (ff. 151r-155r). Geometria de Motu Pars prima. Definitiones (ff. 157r-191v). Isaaci Newtoni Methodus Fluxionum; ubi Calculus Differentialis Liebnitij, et Methodus Tangentium Barrovii explicantur, et exemplis plurimis omnis generis illustrantur (ff. 193r-216v). The manuscript was bequeathed to Christ Church Library with many other volumes by Gregory's son, David Gregory (1696-1767), first Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford, and Dean of Christ Church from 1756-1767.

MS 133 - David Gregory's Institutionum astronomicarum [...] (1686)

Autograph manuscript by David Gregory, astronomer and friend of Isaac Newton. The volume is an early treatise on astronomy written for the use of the author's students at the University of Edinburgh. The manuscript was bequeathed to Christ Church Library with many other volumes by his son, David Gregory (1696-1767).

MS 138 - Nicolas Cantilupe's Historiola, and associated documents concerning the University of Cambridge

From its fifteenth century folio numbering, this manuscript is clearly an excerpt from a much larger volume. This quire had been separated from its parent by the early eighteenth century, when Thomas Hearne saw this manuscript and used it as the base text for his edition of Cantilupe's text. We can date his acquaintance with our manuscript: in his diary, he noted on 9th March 1712 that he had examined 'in the Dean of Xt Church's Study' the books of Henry Aldrich (who was recently deceased) and among them was Cantilupe's Historiola Cantabrigiensis.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 145 - Wycliffite Bible

This manuscript contains one of the best witnesses for the early versions of the translation of the Wycliffite Bible. MS 145 is also notable for its unusual page design. It has running titles for biblical books written in alternating blue and red ink and split across the opening. This is perfectly normal in copies of the Latin Vulgate Bible, but very rare in the Wycliffite Bible corpus. As far as we know, only one other such early version manuscript exists.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 150 - Homilies, Book of Common Prayer, and Psalms (1561-62, with additions of 1580)

Elegantly written and decorated in pen-and-ink book of prayers for use in Anglican services by caligrapher Robert Tyas. Among other things (see full description) the volume contains a partial copy of the Psalms with musical settings by Thomas Sternhold (ff. 413r-502v). It appears that the volume descended within the family of the scribe Robert Tyas, since it was Thomas Tyas who gave it to Christ Church. It is recorded in the Donors’ Register (MS LR 1), under the year 1675, at p. 174a

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 151 - John Walton, verse translation of Boethius, Consolatio Philosophiae

The manuscript is one of only two that now contain a full and accurate authorial ascription. It is a twin of Balliol MS. 316A, with the same contents, but the two lyrics here added are in the original hand there

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 152 - Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales; John Lydgate, Poems

The text of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is complete, but in a different order than that encountered in most other manuscripts. The text of John Lydgate's Poems includes 'The churl and the bird' and 'The sege of Thebes'. There is reasonably extensive evidence for production and early ownership in the mid-south and near southwest. Donated to Christ Church Library by John Verney in 1769, as revealed by a note entered by Edward Smallwell.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 153 - John Lydgate, Troy Book (c. 1470-1500)

Lydgate's Troy Book is one of the many attempts in medieval vernacular poetry to recount the story of the Trojan war. The poem, a verse narrative minutely faithful to its source, is a translation of Guido delle Colonne's Historia destructionis Troiae, a late 13th Century Latin prose work so popular that it survived in about a hundred manuscripts.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 156 - The Historie of the Warres of Peloponnesus (c.1585-1630)

Francis Hickes' translation of Thucydides' Peloponnesian War. Hickes has an important place in English literary history as an early translator of Lucian, Herodian and Thucydides. Two manuscripts in the library of Christ Church, Oxford show Hickes' work in Greek translation. These are unprinted versions of the complete histories of Thucydides (MS 156) and Herodian (MS 157). The gift of this manuscript is recorded in the Donors’ Register (MS LR 1 - digitised below), at p. 77a. The donation is from Thomas Hickes, the son of Francis Hickes. The donation is undated, but it probably arrived in 1632. For more details, please see: Stuart Gillespie and Christopher Pelling, 'The Greek Translations of Francis Hickes (1565/6-1631)', in Translation and Literature (2016 vol:25 issue:3), pp. 315 -338.

MS 178 - French New Testament (13th century)

The text is a full representation of the New Testament, though, rather than being a strict translation of the Vulgate, it includes gloss materials. It presents the books in the usual order, and includes, starting with Romans. The disposition of the unique prologues, following the actual texts, strongly implies that they were being intercalated into this copy from a source alien to the text proper. The text lacks the end of Jude and the start of Apocalypse, owing to a removed leaf.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 179 - Ordinances of the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception (1503 x 1517)

A richly illuminated Tudor manuscript written in French lettre bâtarde. The first six leaves date from the foundation of the fraternity in 1503; the final one, however, may have been added as late as 1517. Of particular interest is the illumination on fol.1v representing Joachim embracing Anna outside the Golden Gate, viewed through an open portcullis; in the foreground, Henry VII and his queen, with their three sons and four daughters.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 180 - Book of Psalms - Calligraphic manuscript by Esther Inglis (1599)

An astonishingly beautiful manuscript of the Book of Psalms, in French, richly bound in crimson velvet decorated with silver-thread embroidery and pearls. Essential to the attractiveness of this manuscript is its calligraphy, with Esther Inglis demonstrating her ability both to construct a script which appears as constant as anything print can offer and to move from one script to another. There are about seventeen different scripts present in this volume, in two to four different sizes. This manuscript was produced by Esther Inglis in Edinburgh for presentation to Elizabeth, queen of England.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 341 - Cartulary of Eynsham Abbey (1196-97)

Various lists and copies of deeds relating to Eynsham. Produced by the monks of Eynsham to preserve the records of their holdings, it continued to attract accretions into the 15th century. It is not clear what happened to the manuscript in the wake of the abbey’s surrender on 4th December 1538. Manuscript arrived during the second or third decade of the seventeenth century, and was in the ownership of the Dean and Chapter by the autumn 1644. The manuscript is now located in Christ Church Archives.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS 346 - David Gregory's Notebook (1696-1708)

This notebook dates from David Gregory’s later years, when he was resident in Oxford. The Notebook’s arrival in the Library is slightly unclear. W.G. Hiscock mentions that the manuscript was found in September 1935 in a cupboard of the Christ Church Library Manuscript Room and surmises that it passed to the author’s son (himself Dean of Christ Church), and was left in the Deanery, being handed over to the Library at some point after 1867, as it is not included in G.W. Kitchin’s catalogue of Christ Church manuscripts published that year. The text is interspersed with diagrams, and sections of text on a page are often marked off by a horizontal line, or boxed with vertical lines as well.

MS 348/2 - Letter from Philip Lyttelton Gell to Henry G. Liddell

Philip Lyttelton Gell, Secretary to the Delegates of the Clarendon Press, reports to Henry G. Liddell (1811-1898) on sales of and profits from the Greek-English Lexicon. At this point the seventh edition, planned to be the final and definitive edition, was on sale, and a deal had been done with Harper and Brothers of New York to sell it in the US.

MS 348/5 - Letter from H. W Chandler to Henry G. Liddell

Henry W. Chandler was an eccentric Fellow of Pembroke College who more than once got into rows with Bodley’s Librarian (H. O. Coxe) over library policy. In this letter, dated 17 October 1878, he refers to the Greek -English Lexicon by Henry G. Liddell and Robert Scott.

MS 375/1 - Royal Order from King Charles II to the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, Oxford

Dated 11 November 1684, this is the original royal order for the expulsion of John Locke. Issued by Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland, with his autograph signature. In May 1652, Locke was elected to a Studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, conditionally tenable for life. During the next fifteen years at Oxford, Locke took his degrees (B.A. 1656, M.A. 1658) and fulfilled various college offices, becoming Tutor in 1661. While Censor of Moral Philosophy at Christ Church in 1664 he completed the Latin manuscript now known as Essays [or Questions] on the Law of Nature. In August 1683, Locke fled to the Netherlands under suspicion of involvement in the Rye House Plot (a plan to assassinate Charles II and his brother, James). In 1684, at the request of the King, Dean John Fell expelled Locke from Christ Church.

MS 375/2 - Letter from John Locke to Thomas Herbert

Dated 8 December 1684, this is an autograph manuscript from John Locke to Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke (1656-1733). Locke later dedicated An Essay Concerning Human Understanding to the 8th Earl of Pembroke in 1690. The manuscript is printed and discussed in Christie, Shaftesbury vol. 1:261 n.; Bourne, Life, vol. 1:487-488; De Beer, ii, 797; Goldie (ed.), Selected correspondence, pp. 99-102.    
 

MS 375/3 - Petition from John Locke for the restauration of his Studentship

Dated November 1689, this is John Locke’s original autograph petition for the restoration of his Christ Church Studentship. In May 1652, Locke was elected to a Studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, conditionally tenable for life. During the next fifteen years at Oxford, Locke took his degrees (B.A. 1656, M.A. 1658) and fulfilled various college offices, becoming Tutor in 1661. While Censor of Moral Philosophy at Christ Church in 1664 he completed the Latin manuscript now known as Essays [or Questions] on the Law of Nature. In August 1683, Locke fled to the Netherlands under suspicion of involvement in the Rye House Plot (a plan to assassinate Charles II and his brother, James). In 1684, at the request of King Charles II (see MS 375-1), Dean John Fell expelled Locke from Christ Church.

MS 393/1 - Letter from Thomas Gaisford to Henry G. Liddell

In this letter, dated 12 March 1851, Thomas Gaisford (a classical scholar and clergyman, serving as Dean of Christ Church from 1831 until his death) disputes the inclusion of a word in the Greek-English Lexicon by Henry G. Liddell and Robert Scott.

MS 393/2 - Letter from W. E. Gladstone to Henry G. Liddell

In a letter dated 2 February 1890 that Gladstone sent to Henry G. Liddell, he comments on a series of  Greek-English Lexicon entries.

MS 393/3 - Letter from Robert Scott to Henry G. Liddell

In a letter dated 17 December 1878, Robert Scott asks his co-editor Henry G. Liddell to revisit Greek-English Lexicon entries. Scott also reports on a paper sent to him by Robert Whiston, headmaster of the cathedral grammar school at Rochester.

MS 393/4 - Letter from A. V. Harcourt to Henry G. Liddell

In a letter dated 11 February 1891, Harcourt replies to a query from Henry G. Liddell about whether iron could be softened by immersion in hot oil. This probably relates to the entry for ‘βαφή’ in the Greek-English Lexicon, where a problematic passage in Sophocles (Ajax 651) was discussed.

MS 583 - Letter from Edward Burne-Jones to Mrs H. G. Liddell

Undated original letter from the British artist to Lorina Reeve Liddell, the wife of Henry G. Liddell, Dean of Christ Church. Among other projects, Burne-Jones was involved in the rejuvenation of the tradition of stained glass. His works include windows at Christ Church.

MS 684 - List of the Household of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (16th century)

This roll presents the career of Thomas Wolsey in tabular form, concentrating attention on the size of his household. Added text: A biography of Sir Isaac Newton by his relative, Thomas Newton. Parchment. A long roll made from a single hide. Overall: 872mm x 176mm. It is divided into four columns, each bounded in red, of varying widths: 32mm, 92mm, 18mm, 20mm. Writing occurs only in the first and second column, with the second column also divided horizontally by black lines, its top section 47mm high, the central section 640mm, the penultimate 101mm, and the last 84mm. Written throughout in one tiny italic script.

Detailed description of manuscript

Mus 1295 (aka MS 689) – Missal, probably Use of Rome, fifteenth century 

Eight non-adjacent leaves from a Roman Missal, written on parchment in 'gothic textura rotunda'. Purchased at auction in Geneva, and donated about 1990 by Paul Lewis, father of Jonathan W. Lewis, Biological Sciences MA (1994) and D.Phil (1998), Christ Church, Oxford and David R.Lewis, Master of Studies in Modern Languages, The Queen’s College, Oxford (1998), and MBA, Said Business School, Oxford (2015).

Detailed description of manuscript    
 

MS 690 (aka Arch. Coll. 10-Ashmolean) - Edward Hannes' Coin Catalogue (Oxford, 1686)

Catalogue of coins owned by Christ Church. The manuscript, produced by Edward Hannes (1663-1710), is divided into sections. Greek coins occupy only fol. 4 [p. 1]; Roman republican coins fol. 5-8 [pp. 3-9]; Roman imperial coins, arranged chronologically by emperor (from Julius Caesar to Honorius) occupy most of the volume, fol. 9-53 [pp.11-97bis]. The manuscript is discussed in an extensive study by Andrew Burnett in Christ Church Library Newsletter (Vol.10: 2017-18, pp. 10-19).

Detailed description of manuscript    
 

MS 691 (aka Arch. Coll. 9-Ashmolean) - Charles Brent's Coin Catalogue (Oxford, 1710)

Catalogue of coins owned by Christ Church. The manuscript was produced by Charles Brent (1683-1722).  Brent’s catalogue was indebted to an earlier one: he was working from and often paraphrasing MS. 690, which he had also annotated. The manuscript is discussed in an extensive study of Christ Church Library Newsletter (Vol.10: 2017-18, pp. 10-19).

Detailed description of manuscript

MS Allestree M.3.1 - Tristram Sugge's Scholastique Catechisme (Oxford, 1648)

The manuscript consists of a doctrinal manual for the Christian Church discussing mainly patriarchal kingship, authority, ecclesiology, the Law of Moses and the Sabbath. There are also two other incomplete draft treatises near the end of the volume. This, together with a significant number of other little studied manuscripts by Tristram Sugge now reside in the Allestree Library at Christ Church.

Detailed description of manuscript

MS D & C vi.I - Cartulary of St Frideswide’s Priory (1373-1513)

Codex containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the foundation, privileges, and legal rights of St Frideswide's Priory. The active use of this cartulary at St Frideswide’s before its dissolution is visible in both the inserted texts and the various accretions of marginalia through the volume. All this strongly suggests that the cartulary did not move from its previous home and was on the college site. In other words, this is the sole manuscript from the days of the Priory which has remained in situ and been owned by the successor institutions. The manuscript is kept in Christ Church Archives.

MS LR 1 - Library Donors' Register (1614-1841)

This manuscript was one product of the ‘restoration’ of Christ Church’s Library in the early 1610s. It is in many aspects closely similar to its equivalent for the Bodleian Lib. Recs. b. 903 (=Arch. F. b.6), which was begun in 1604. The Christ Church manuscript is witness to the House’s desire to emulate the new university library. The volume also demonstrates the enthusiasm for record-keeping with which Christ Church welcomed the ‘renovation’ of its library. After a first flurry of activity, there is a hiatus in the records between 1620 and 1627, and again in the mid-1640s, a period when other matters would understandably have been at the forefront of the Students’ minds. Notably, after the execution of Charles I, there was a renewed effort, in the early 1650s, to record donations. The tradition of noting gifts continues fairly fully until the later 1710s, after which the records are fitful, perhaps because the Library was overwhelmed by the generosity of the bequests it was receiving. It was only in the mid-century that the tradition was fully resurrected and then became embedded when Edward Smallwell began his entries in the book in 1758, only for it to decline once more in the early nineteenth century. This manuscript was created through the financial support of a person with no prior association with the foundation, the royal agent Otho Nicholson.

MS xxix.b.13 - Book of Accounts of Daventry Priory (1483–1492)

The bulk of the manuscript consists of the Book of accounts of the Priory of Daventry. At the front however are three pages, the first two mutilated, of verses describing the results of Christmas falling on each of the days of the week. Unmutilated page begins: ‘Lordyngs I warne yow be forne’ (see Index of Middle English Verse, no. 1989). The manuscript is kept in Christ Church Archives.

The Book of Evidences (1667)

Volume 1 (Shelfmark l.c.2)

Volume 2 (Shelfmark l.c.3)

The Book of Evidences was compiled by Anthony Wood, the antiquarian, and John Willis, Chapter Clerk at Christ Church, who was the brother of the famous physician, Thomas. Its purpose was to describe Christ Church’s landed estates to prove ownership after the turmoil of the English Civil War and Commonwealth confused land boundaries and rights. Each property is described, often with an account of its pre-Christ Church history, and with details of the rent due and any other obligations. Rectors, vicars, and curates for each of our parishes are listed and, in some cases, legal disputes are recounted well into the 18th century. The Book is, in effect, Christ Church’s Domesday Book and is usually the first port-of-call for any research involving property. The Book was originally in one volume, but was re-bound in the 1950s into two for ease of use and conservation. The manuscript is kept in Christ Church Archives.