Blog Posts : Manuscripts

Unique Bible Commentaries by Wyclif

by Petra Hofmann (College Librarian) We are very excited that the unique texts of the renowned Oxford scholar John Wyclif (mid-1320s – 1384) in St John’s College’s early 15th-century MS 171 have been digitized as part of the Library’s digitization project. The freely available digitization will be a valuable source…

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Hobbes on the Civil War

by Petra Hofmann (College Librarian) St John’s College’s MS 13 is a fine copy Behemoth, or The Long Parliament, in which the political philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) discusses the English Civil War (1642-1651). Dividing the subject matter into four sections, called ‘dialogues’ in St John’s copy, Hobbes’s work covers the…

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A Student Notebook

by Petra Hofmann (College Librarian) MS 80 is a student notebook written over 500 years ago, probably at the Sorbonne in Paris. The Englishman Thomas Paynell, the writer of this notebook, is believed to have studied there around 1507. The notebook originally started with an elaborate capital with flowers, animals,…

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A Medieval Self-Portrait

by Petra Hofmann (College Librarian) Devotional books, Books of Hours in particular, were the “bestsellers” of the late Middle Ages. Indeed, “from the fourteenth to the mid-sixteenth century, more books of hours were made than any other type of book.” (Stein). Books of Hours contain prayers linked to the canonical…

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The York Bestiary

by Petra Hofmann (College Librarian) The so-called “York Bestiary” (MS 61, produced in early 13th-century York) is a firm favourite with library staff and visitors. Who can resist these charming, often funny and sometimes puzzling illustrations of animals together with a dazzling display of gold? Bestiaries are a combination of…

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Medieval Medicine

by Petra Hofmann (College Librarian) St John’s College has a significant collection of medical manuscripts and early printed books. Among the medieval medical manuscripts is this fascinating volume of John Arderne’s work (MS 86), full of marginal decorations and even one English case history among the otherwise Latin text. The…

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Archbishop William Laud’s Qur’ān

by Petra Hofmann (College Librarian) MS 107 is one of St John’s five Qur’ān manuscripts. MS 107 is of North African provenance, probably from Morocco, dating from the late 16th or early 17th century. This is based on the decorations which suggest a production during the Sa’did dynasty (1511-1659) in Morocco.…

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Medieval Manuscript Fragments

Sian Witherden, Resource Description Librarian ‘Poirot!’ I cried. ‘This is a fragment of a will!’ […] My brain was in a whirl. What was this complication of a will? Who had destroyed it? The person who had left the candle grease on the floor? Obviously. But how had anyone gained…

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A gift to support William Laud’s bid for President?

by Petra Hofmann (College Librarian) This manuscript of Terence’s Comedies (MS 117), produced in France around 1475, is one of the few manuscripts not produced in England that we hold at St John’s College. It is one of two medieval Terence manuscripts in the Library and one of several with…

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There’s the Rub: Thomas Becket in Medieval Manuscripts

There’s the Rub: Thomas Becket in Medieval Manuscripts By Sian Witherden, Resource Description Librarian Gold leaf, intricate borders, elaborate illuminations—St John’s College MS 82 has it all. This devotional book, produced c.1475, is one of the most visually impressive medieval manuscripts in the library’s collection. Even after five centuries, many…

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Librarian’s Pick #8: Ben Jonson and Terence’s Comedies

Over the course of Trinity Term 2020, the library staff at St. John’s College will be taking you on a ‘tour’ of some of their favourites among our special collections. Every Monday, we will upload a new note on the item of the week. Read on to discover more about…

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Librarian’s Pick #7: The Brittany Gospels

St John’s Oldest Book: The Brittany Gospels (MS 194) by Petra Hofmann, College Librarian St John’s oldest book is an inconspicuous Gospel codex, a little smaller than a standard Penguin paperback. The book was produced in the late 9th/ early 10th-century, probably in Brittany but some scholars have suggested England,…

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Librarian’s Pick #1: MS 325

Over the course of Trinity Term 2020, the library staff at St. John’s College will be taking you on a ‘tour’ of some of their favourites among our special collections. Every Monday, we will upload a new note on the item of the week. Read on to discover more about…

by St. John's Library

MS 262: The Little Gidding Harmonies

This Special Collections post explores the biblical harmonies compiled by a religious community at Little Gidding in the seventeenth-century. One of the harmonies, The Whole Law of God, resides at St John’s College. The Little Gidding community provides a fascinating insight into the creation of this manuscript, and the many…

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‘Impulse of Delight’: Paul Tod on MS17

In Trinity Term, the College invited me to write a short piece for the catalogue of the exhibition to mark the opening of the new Study Centre, describing two pages of the College’s manuscript MS17. This manuscript is a mathematical compilation, largely concerned with the methods needed for computing the…

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Jane and George Austen, Letters (MS 279)

This collection of six letters, either written by or relating to the novelist Jane Austen, is one of the most interesting items held in St John’s College Library. George Austen, Jane’s father (and the writer of one of the letters), and her brothers James and Henry all studied at and…

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