On this page you can learn more about the various diaries, memoirs, and biographies in our western post-1500 manuscript collection.
MS 229
MS 229 is an anonymous travel diary from 1835. It describes a trip to Greece (among other places) and details the hazards of travel, including bandits and encounters with plague.
MS 258
MS 258 is a diary of William Laud (1573-1645, Archbishop of Canterbury), detailing the entire course of his life to 1643, although probably written from 1621 onwards. The last entry is in May 1643 when the diary was seized while Laud was in the Tower of London.
MS 259
MS 259 is an account by William Laud (1573-1645, Archbishop of Canterbury) composed while in the Tower of London. Written in his own hand, the manuscript covers Laud’s trial from his impeachment on December 18th 1640 until January 3rd 1645.
MS 317
MS 317 constitutes fragments of a broadly contemporary copy of the diary of William Laud (1573-1645, Archbishop of Canterbury). The original is St John’s MS 258 (see above).