Research Guides: Medieval and Renaissance Studies: Medieval Manuscripts

Finding Medieval Manuscripts

Medieval manuscripts can be found in several ways:

There are a few online collections of digitized medieval manuscripts, which are listed on this page.
You may have a citation provided by another scholar, which will take the form of the repository and the manuscript's shelfmark - e.g. the so-called Codex Vaticanus, one of the oldest manuscripts of the Greek Bible, is in the Vatican Library's Greek manuscript collection and would be cited as: Vat. gr. 1209.
Most large repositories have produced published manuscript catalogues, which list their holdings and give brief descriptions. A few of these catalogues have been put online and are listed on this page.
- The finest collection of printed manuscript catalogues in the U.S. is uptown in Columbia University's Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
The essential guide to catalogues of Latin manuscripts is: Paul Oskar Kristeller, Latin manuscript books before 1600: a list of the printed catalogues and unpublished inventories of extant collections - fourth revised and enlarged edition by Sigrid Krämer (Munich, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, 1993). Bobst collection at Z6605.L3 K75 1993.
- A supplement edited by Krämer and Birgit Christine Arensmann appeared in 2007. Z6601.A1 K68 2007
- An online edition is available from the MGH.
Also essential for scholars of Renaissance manuscripts is Kristeller's Iter Italicum ;a finding list of uncatalogued or incompletely catalogued humanistic manuscripts of the Renaissance in Italian and other libraries, 6 vols. (London : Warburg Institute, 1963-1997 ).
- It is available in the Reference Collection of Bobst Libary at: Z6611.H8 K7.
- An online edition is available as part of Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Online Manuscript Sites

The Abby of St. Gall
This project, part of the Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland, seeks to reconstruct virtually the magnificent manuscript collection of St. Gall. The initial phase will make available all 355 mss. dating from before 1,000 C.E.
Bodleian Library Manuscripts Online
This is a sample of images from the manuscripts held by this great Oxford library.
British National Archives - Ancient Petitions
This site from The National Archives in Britain presents over 17,000 images from petitions presented to kings, Parliament, chancellors, and other officers of state.
Cambridge University: Life of King Edward the Confessor
Cambridge University Library MS. Ee.3.59 - the only copy of an illustrated Anglo-Norman verse Life of St Edward the Confessor, written in England probably in the later 1230s or early 1240s, and preserved in this manuscript, executed c. 1250-60.
Catalogue of Digitized Medieval Manuscripts
This site was designed to enable users to find fully digitized manuscripts currently available on the web. Search on specific terms or by particular fields, e.g. date or provenance or browse by the Location of an archive or library, the shelfmark of an item, the author of a text, or by the language.
Consulting Medieval Manuscripts Online
Links leading to collections containing fully digitized medieval manuscripts, one for digitized individual manuscripts, and one devoted to projects choosing to digitize selected pages for things like illustrations, examples musical notation, etc.
Digital Scriptorium
An image database of medieval and renaissance manuscripts that unites scattered resources from many institutions into an international tool for teaching and scholarly research. As of 2009 there were nearly 25,000 images of over 5,000 mss.
Early Manuscripts at Oxford University
Digital images of over 80 early manuscripts now in the libraries and colleges of the University of Oxford.
Gallica
The digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France - contains a large collection of searchable, digitized medieval manuscripts.
The MacKinney Collection of Medieval Medical Illustrations
An important collection of medieval medical illustrations based on the slide collection of Loren C. MacKinney of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Manuscripta Medievalia
An database describing over 60,000 manuscripts in German repositories with a large collection of digitized manuscripts.
Manuscriptorium
A European Union-sponsored site aggregating digitized manuscripts, incunabula, early printed books, maps, charters and other types of documents from a wide range of countries and repositories.
Manuscripts of Medieval France with Vernacular Texts
"Manuscripts of Medieval France with Vernacular Texts", is a collection of over 1000 links to manuscript facsimiles, and with these, nearly all of the French medieval literary canon.
Marie de France - Manuscript Sources
The purpose of this page is to present a number of links to medieval manuscript facsimiles containing Marie's work, some illustrated, accompanied by other relevant resources. It is part of the Andy Holt Virtual Library's "Manuscripts of Medieval France with Vernacular Texts", a collection of over 1000 links to manuscript facsimiles, which will include nearly all of the French medieval literarary canon, and much more.
Medieval Manuscripts in Dutch Collections
The database contains descriptions of all medieval western manuscripts up to c. 1550 written in Latin script and preserved in public and semi-public collections in the Netherlands. Select images of the manuscripts are available.
Opening the Geese Book
The site presents the full facsimile of the manuscript, New York, Morgan, M. 905, vols. I and II, selected chants recorded by the Schola Hungarica, videos with background information and critical commentary in English and German, a codicological report, archival sources, and bibliography.
Produced in Nuremberg between 1503 and 1510, the book preserves the complete mass liturgy compiled for the parish of St. Lorenz and used until the Reformation was introduced in the city in 1525. The manuscript is famous for its representations of animals, wild folk, and dragons.

Parker Library on the Web This link opens in a new window
An interactive, web-based workspace designed to support use and study of the manuscripts in the historic Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

Roman de la Rose Digital Library
Digital versions of the manuscripts of the Roman de la Rose.
Virtual Library: Historische Hilfswissenschaften Kodikologie
An enormous site bringing together a wide range of resources related to manuscript studies, maintained at the University of Munich.
Bibliothèque nationale de France - Guide de lecteur du départment du Manuscrits
Extremely helpful guide to the Department of Manuscripts at the BN

Manuscript Repositories

Archives Nationales
The French National Archives - a trove of medieval documents. The French archival system is complex, with local archives for each departement. But the Archives nationales is the place to begin.
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The search for manuscripts, click on the button for "Catalogues et bibliothèque numérique" and then click on "BnF Archives et Manuscrits."
Bibliothèque nationale de France - guide de lecteur de départment du Manuscrits
Extremely helpful guide to using manuscripts at the BN.
British National Archives: Ancient Petitions to the King et al.
This site from The National Archives in Britain presents over 17,000 images from petitions presented to kings, Parliament, chancellors, and other officers of state.
Cambridge University Libraries - Department of Mss.
Basic information and links to the specific collections.
Catalogue of Digitized Manuscripts from UCLA
This site was designed to enable users to find fully digitized manuscripts currently available on the web. Search on specific terms or on particular fields, such as date, or provenance information. Browse by the Location of an archive or library, the shelfmark of an item, the author or the language of a text.
Munich - The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
For information on manuscript collections, click on the top link for Die Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, then on the link for "Abteilungen," then on "Handschriften und Alte Drucke."
The Ambrosiana Archive - University of Notre Dame
A repository containing photographic copies of the entire manuscript collection of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan.
The Bodleian Libraries, Oxford
To search for manuscripts, click on "Special Collections" and follow the links to "Collections Guides" for Western and Oriental manuscipts.
The British Library
To search for manuscripts, choose "Catalogues (full list)" from the selection of "British Library Websites" at the bottom of the screen, the scroll down to "Manuscripts."
The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library
HMML, located at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, is the home of the world's largest collection of manuscript images. Since 1965 they have been microfilming, and since 2003 digitizing, manuscripts from monasteries & libraries.
The Knights of Columbus Vatican Film Library - St. Louis University
The Knights of Columbus Library is a research library for manuscript studies and holds the largest collection of Vatican Library manuscripts on microfilm outside of the Vatican City.
The Vatican Library
The Vatican's manuscript catalogues are partially available online. Mouse-over "Catalogues" in the upper right corner and click on "Manuscripts."
Note: the search engine is in Italian.

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Finding Medieval Manuscripts

Online Manuscript Sites

Manuscript Repositories