On this page you can learn more about the various manuscripts in our western post-medieval collection that relate to language and literature. You may also be interested in the Middle English Literature section of our western medieval manuscripts collection.
MS 3
MS 3, an Italian to English dictionary, was produced in Oxford in the 16th century. It was composed by Cromwell Lee (d. 1601), Italian traveller and nephew of Sir Thomas Wyatt.
MS 52
MS 52 is a seventeenth century manuscript that includes an account of theatrical celebrations that took place at St John’s College from 31st October 1607 until 13th February 1608, known as The Christmas Prince.
MS 66A
MS 66a contains a copy of The Martyrdom of Theodora and Didymus, a romance written by Robert Boyle (1627-1691). This copy (produced c.1650) was copied by John Mallet, who was apparently a friend of Boyle’s.
MS 213
MS 213 includes twenty funeral verses on the death of Amy Leech (d. 1631), the niece of the founder of St John’s College. These verses were composed by members of the college.
MS 216
MS 216 contains a copy of Polyhymnia by George Peele (1556-1596), a poem celebrating the 32nd anniversary of Queen Elizabeth the I in 1590. This manuscript is a contemporary copy of the poem.
MS 217
MS 217 contains a seventeenth-century copy of Cephalus et Procris, a Latin play possibly intended for performance at St John’s College. The play is dedicated to William Juxon (1582-1663, Archbishop of Canterbury, President of St John’s College).
MS 218
MS 218 is a presentation copy of a Latin play Mercurius, sive, Literarum lucta by John Blencowe (1608-c.1640, Fellow). It was possibly intended for performance at St John’s College.
MS 299
MS 299 contains two satirical pieces in the same hand, datable to the 1640s. These are entitled ‘Hoges Character of a Proiector’ and ‘Piggs Coranto’.
MS 303
MS 303 contains two 18th c. verses, one in English and one in Latin, to a Ship’s Purser. The manuscript is written in a calligraphic hand, with ornate flourishing and borders.
MS 330
MS 330 is a fair copy of a skit, in Greek and Latin, on the election of the Duke of Wellington as Chancellor of Oxford University in 1834, which appeared in print the same year.
MS 364
MS 364 is a copy of a Latin dialogue in hexameters, between Thomas Baber and Thomas Royse at Reading School on the 15th Calends of November [i.e. 18th October] 1755.