Collection items

10th-century Qur’an

Manuscript Created date: 900–1000

Probably copied in Egypt, this 10th-century Qur’an is written in Eastern kufic script on vellum. The manuscript The desi...

11th-century illuminated Psalter

Manuscript Created date: Late 11th century

Illuminated copies of the Book of Psalms were very popular in Byzantium. One group of illuminated psalters are known as ...

11th-century Qur'an from Iraq or Persia

Manuscript Created date: 11th century

This elegant, detailed Qur’an is one of the earliest dated examples of naskhi script. What is special this script? This...

12th-century Horologion

Manuscript Created date: 12th century

A Horologion, or Book of Hours, contains the outline of the services (aside from those relating to the Eucharist) of the...

12th-century miscellany of Latin texts

Manuscript Created date: Early 12th century

The oldest surviving copy of the History of the Britons (Historia Brittonum) is found in a miscellany of late Antique an...

13th-century English Book of Hours

Manuscript Created date: Late 13th century

An early Book of Hours from England. Popular in the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance, Books of Hours were pra...

13th-century Menaion

Manuscript Created date: 13th century

In the Greek church, the Menaion is the book containing prayers and hymns for the fixed feasts of the liturgical calenda...

14th-century Greek New Testament

Manuscript Created date: 14th century

Most Greek manuscripts of the Bible tend only to include a small sub-section of biblical books, for instance, the four G...

14th-century Mamluk Qur’an

Manuscript Created date: 1300–1399

This 14th-century Qur’an from Egypt. The manuscript This Qur’an is written in muhaqqaq script, with ornamental chapter ...

14th-century pilgrim's travel guide

Manuscript Created date: first half of the 14th century

This is a 700-year-old traveller’s guidebook: a practical manual for pilgrims walking St James’s Way to Santiago de Comp...

14th-century Wycliffite Bible

Manuscript Created date: 1375–1425

This is a manuscript copy of the ‘Wycliffite Bible’ – the first complete copy of the Bible in the English language. Why...

15th-century Wycliffite Bible

Manuscript, Illuminated manuscript Created date: Early 15th century

A manuscript containing the Later Version of the Middle English translation of the Bible produced by followers of the re...

16th-century Book of Hours

Manuscript Created date: c. 1500

The character of Death was regularly personified within medieval culture, and the message was usually clear: death would...

17th-century Chinese Qur’an

Manuscript Created date: 17th century

This 17th-century Chinese Qur’an shows how Islamic styles of calligraphy and illumination were combined with local style...

9th-century Gospel-book from Tours

Manuscript Created date: 2nd half of the 9th century

The copying and decoration of this Gospel-book from Tours represent a remarkable artistic achievement. As is characteris...