Collection items

Abraham ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch

Manuscript Created date: 15th century

Abraham Ibn Ezra’s commentary to the Torah (‘Five Books of Moses’ or ‘Pentateuch’). Abraham Ibn Ezra and his biblical co...

Account of King John’s reign in John Lydgate’s Ver...

Manuscript, Artwork Created date: 1450-99

King John has frequently been characterised as a bad king, even in the Middle Ages. This poem on the kings of England, t...

An anonymous map of Italy

Map Created date: 15th century

In the 15th century several maps were drawn of the whole of Italy, by then the most map-conscious part of Europe. The ou...

Astrological-medical miscellany

Manuscript Created date: 1st quarter of the 15th century

A circular diagram, now known as ‘Microcosmic Man’ or ‘Zodiac man’, appears in this miscellany of astrological and medic...

Carthusian miscellany

Manuscript Created date: 1460–1500

The religious order of monks and nuns known as the Carthusians were founded by St Bruno of Cologne (d. 1104) in 1084. Th...

Charles d'Orleans, Poetry

Manuscript Created date: c. 1450–99

Charles d’Orleans (d. 1465), cousin of the French king, was captured at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 and spent 25 yea...

Chart of the Aegean from the Cornaro atlas

Map Created date: 15th century

An atlas made for the Cornaro family of Venice at the end of the 15th century contains 35 portolan charts by various Ven...

First book of Herodotus’ Histories

Manuscript Created date: Before 1449

This manuscript contains the first book of Herodotus’ Histories. It is written on paper and dates from some time before ...

Flowers of Virtue and of Manners

Manuscript Created date: c.1450–1500

The Flore de virtu e de costumi (‘Flowers of Virtue and of Manners’) is an Italian work on virtues and vices that was co...

Great Bible

Manuscript, Illuminated manuscript Created date: 1st quarter of the 15th century

With pages measuring over half a metre (two feet) tall, this volume is the largest manuscript Bible within the British L...

Greek medical treatises

Manuscript Created date: 2nd half of the 15th century

This manuscript is a typical example of a medical miscellany. It consists of a range of treatises on physiology and prog...

Guide to women's health

Manuscript Created date: 15th century

A 15th-century Middle English pamphlet has been bound into this manuscript, an alphabetised handbook of medical definiti...

Guild-book of the barber-surgeons of York

Manuscript Created date: c. 1475–99

In the Middle Ages, barbers were not only responsible for cutting hair, but also for surgeries such as tooth-extractions...

Henry VIII's prayer roll

Scroll, Prayer book, Manuscript, Manuscript, Illuminated manuscript, Illustration, Image Created date: c. 1485–1509

Owned by Henry VIII as a young man, this is one of the finest surviving late medieval prayer rolls. The manuscript Meas...

Japheth ben Ali ha-Levi's Commentary on Joshua

Manuscript Created date: 1400–1499

A 15th-century copy of the commentary on Joshua by the famed Karaite biblical commentator – Japheth ben Ali ha-Levi (liv...