Manuscripts and archives

You can access ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary manuscript and archive material from around the world. Our collections include historical, literary, political, scientific, and religious papers as well as maps, charters, seals, rolls, and papyri.

Collection guides

Cotton manuscripts
The library of Sir Robert Cotton (1571–1631)
Harley manuscripts
Manuscripts, charters, and rolls collected by the Harley family
Sloane manuscripts
Manuscripts and artefacts gathered by the physician Sir Hans Sloane (1660–1753)
Royal manuscripts
Manuscripts collected by English sovereigns from Edward IV onwards
Lansdowne manuscripts
A collection of modern political papers and material relating to topography and heraldry
King’s manuscripts
Medieval and post-medieval manuscripts and topographical material

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Help

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Subjects

Classics

Graeco-Roman antiquity, from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC to the end of the 6th century AD.

Medieval and early modern Britain

British historical and literary manuscripts, 600–1600

Modern British history

British history from 1600 to the present

Contemporary Britain

Collections reflecting contemporary British society and culture

Literature and drama

Collections relating to English literature and British theatre

Maps

The British Library collection of maps, plans and views is one of the largest in the world, numbering some 4.5 million

Music

The British Library has a world-famous collection of music

Arts and humanities

Collections for the study of history, culture and society

Social sciences

Research resources on politics, economics, law, sociology and other subjects.

Digital Scholarship

Undertake innovative research with our digital collections and data

Law and legal studies

Historical and current resources for the study of law, legislation and society

Family history

Primary sources and reference material for family history and genealogy research

Readers at desks in the Manuscript Reading Room

Manuscripts Reading Room

The Manuscripts Reading Room is the enquiry point for the Library's western language manuscript collections (i.e. written by hand, not printed). The collection includes literary, historical manuscripts and private papers.

Find information on the shelves about the British Library’s collection of western manuscripts and those held elsewhere
Access online databases and electronic journals and books relating to archives and manuscripts
Order collection items to the Reading Room via our Explore Archives & Manuscripts Catalogue

Some of our manuscripts may require a Letter of Introduction, or may have other Access Conditions.

We offer a range of free Reader sessions and 1-2-1 consultations to help you make the best use of the Library's collections.

You’ll need a Reader Pass

Mon: 10.00 – 17.00
Tue – Sat: 09.30 – 17.00
Sun & English Public Holidays: closed

Opening hours for all Reading Rooms

For enquiries, please contact the Manuscripts Reference Team.

Blog posts

Mary had a little lamb

Thursday, March 23, 2023

One of the more unusual manuscripts digitised for the British Library’s Medieval and Renaissance Women project is Cotton Roll XIV 8: a year-long menu for the 15-year-old Princess Mary (the future Queen Mary I) and her household, in 1531. The...

Claim of thrones

Thursday, March 16, 2023

Who was the first Queen of England in her own right? Matilda? Lady Jane Grey? Mary? Does Isabel of Portugal spring to mind? To set the scene. On 21 May 1471, King Henry VI of England (r. 1422–1461, 1470–1471) died...

A deathbed confession

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

One of the more unusual documents digitised as part of the British Library’s Medieval and Renaissance Women project is Add Ch 67394, a sworn testimony by four men that they had been told the deathbed confession of a woman called...

Where there's a will

Monday, March 6, 2023

One of the benefits of our Medieval and Renaissance Women project is that we have been able to focus on groups of documents that have features in common. Individually, these documents provide insight into the lives (and after-lives) of particular...

Case studies

More Case studies

…Being at both Leicester and the British Library has given me two outlets to present my research to the wider public.…

Exploring how the Anglo-Saxons used manuscripts to experience Rome from afar.

Collaborative Doctoral Student British Library

…You get to know how people work in an institution like this... it's something I would like to do as well.…

Exploring the working life of a twentieth-century scientist through the archive of John Maynard Smith.

…I have most enjoyed the collaborative atmosphere of learning at the Library.…

AHRC Innovation Placement Fellow

…A PhD can be a lonely journey, but collaborative PhDs are certainly not that.…

Investigating constructions of identity in the works and archive of the writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.

Shop

The British Library houses one of the world's greatest collections of illuminated manuscripts, and Janet Backhouse has drawn on this rich resource to make a selection of outstanding examples that span over 800 years of medieval book production.

£8.95