About
During the Middle Ages, it was largely monasteries that conserved religious texts and certain works of Antiquity. These works were typically created in scriptoriums, where monks would copy, decorate and bind books within their monastery libraries. By the end of the 12th century, the growth of the university saw a growth in manuscripts and incunabula outside of monasteries. The development of commerce also saw a growth in texts related to law, history, and other topics.
Image source: [Unknown]. 1400. "[Italian 15th century gradual] ". M. Western Manuscripts and Early Printed Books, UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections.
Videos on Medieval Manuscripts
Featured Materials
[Privilegium Innocentii IV pro monasterio S. Michaelis de Tridento] by Call Number: BX1547.T74 C373 1245Publication Date: 1245Document issued by Pope Innocent IV at the First Council of Lyons in 1245, confirming the privileges and property of the monastery of San Michele in Trento, Italy.Signed by Pope Innocent IV, and by thirteen cardinals or bishops. Includes the rota of the pope "Notas fac michi Domine vias vite", and monogram for Bene Valete. Detached but preserved with the document is Pope Innocent's official lead "bulla" and silk cord.Bible. Latin. Vulgate. 13th century
Call Number: BS75 1200zPublication Date: [between 1200 and 1299]Manuscript codex written and decorated in England, probably Oxford, by several hands, in probably the mid-thirteenth century. Written in a minute early gothic bookhand in dark brown ink, with capitals touched in red, and one- to four-line initials in red or blue with penwork tracery. More than 70 large initials in red and blue with penwork tracery often filling borders. Manuscript Bible includes: Old and New Testaments (in 2 columns, 50 lines), Interpretationes Hebraicorum nominum (in 3 columns, 50 lines) and an early owner's near-contemporary concordance of the Gospels at the end of the volume, listing subjects and chapter numbers in a series of long tables. Contains numerous 13th to 16th century additions (in margins) in pen or drypoint.[Book of hours]
Call Number: BX2080 .A2 1430Publication Date: [between 1430? and 1440?]Manuscript book of hours for the use of Rouen (including Calendar, Hours of the Virgin, Office of the Dead, and other prayers); written and illuminated in Rouen, France, approximately 1430-1440.
The Book of KellsCall Number: ND3359.B7 B66 1990Publication Date: 1990A facsimile of the original 8th Century manuscript, produced by Swiss publisher Faksimile-Verlag Luzern. UBC's copy is no. 349 and is accompanied by a presentation book from the Book of Kells Committee, Vancouver, containing the names of all the donors.[Books of hours fragments] by
Call Number: BX2080 .A2 1400Publication Date: [between 1400 and 1600?]Detached manuscript pages from books of hours, penned in France or Flanders in the 15th to 16th centuries. Letters in black or red ink, with illuminated capitals in multiple colours. Verse (from the Magnificat) at head of one page begins: "Deposuit potentes de sede, et exaltauit humiles".- Compendium theologice veritatis byCall Number: BX890 .H76 1320Publication Date: [between 1320 and 1360?]Manuscript on parchment. Text in a small gothic bookhand, lettered in 2 columns on both sides of leaves. Large and small initials in red and blue, chapter headings in red. First leaf wanting. Vellum binding. First work attributed to Hugh Ripelin of Strasbourg ; has also been erroneously attributed to Albertus Magnus (according to New Catholic Encyclopedia). First work is divided into seven sections (with numerals in alternating red and blue at head of text on each leaf) treating: God, Creation, Sin, Incarnation of Christ, Grace, Eucharist, and the End of the World. Second work (leaves 168-186) is an extract, probably from Thomas Aquinas, with opening text: "Utrum religiosus teneatur obedite"
Colocating This Collection
Want to explore this collection but don't know where to start? We've created some links that can help you discover the material in this collection.
Subject Headings
Bible--Early works to 1800
Incunabula
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval
Illumination of books and manuscripts--History
Illumination of books and manuscripts--Specimens
Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)
Manuscripts, Medieval
Call numbers in the UBC Library Catalogue
BS11-115: The Bible - Early versions
ND2889-3416: Painting - Illuminating of manuscripts and books
Z105-115.5: Manuscripts
Z240-241.5: Incunabula. Block books
Digitized Collections
Some of the manuscripts in UBC's Library have been digitized and are available through UBC Open Collections:
- Ancient Artefacts
The Ancient Artefacts Collection contains a number of remarkable items from the University of British Columbia Library's Rare Books and Special Collections, including two Greek papyri, likely from Roman Egypt and dating from the second century CE, as well as a small collection of cuneiform tablets discovered at Ur in Chaldea, and dating from 2456-2390 BCE. - Epigraphic Squeezes
The McGregor Squeeze Collection consists of over 1000 epigraphic squeezes of Greek inscriptions currently held by the Department of Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies (CNERS). An epigraphic squeeze is a filter paper impression of an insciption, which provides a precise copy of the incised letters on the original; this makes them a valuable tool for research when students and scholars cannot access the original materials stored in museums. - Western Manuscripts and Early Printed Books
A selection of western manuscripts and early printed books dating from the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries, from the holdings of Rare Books and Special Collections at the University of British Columbia Library.
Related Works
Publishers of Japanese woodblock prints : a compendium by Call Number: Z463.3 .M38 2011
The medieval book : illustrated from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library by Call Number: Z6621 .B38 1991
The British Library Guide to Manuscript Illumination by Call Number: ND2900 .D34 2001
Meetings with remarkable manuscripts by Call Number: Z106.5.E85 D44 2016
Bibles by Call Number: BS445 .D435 2011
Printing and publishing in medieval China by Call Number: Z186.C5 T8 1983a
Incunabula : studies in fifteenth-century printed books presented to Lotte Hellinga by Call Number: Z240 .I36 1999
Books Before Print by Call Number: Z105 .K824 2018
Vernacular Manuscript Culture, 1000-1500 by Call Number: Z106.5.E85 V476 2018
Manuscripts of the Latin Classics 800-1200 by Call Number: Z107
The European Book in the Twelfth Century by Call Number: Z106.5.E85The study of incunables : problems and aims by
Call Number: Z240 .S3813 1977
The Bible as book : the first printed editions by Call Number: BS447.5.E85 B53 1999
Beyond our Collections
- British LibraryThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and the second largest library in the world by number of items catalogued. Their Digitised Manuscripts site contains many different kinds of manuscripts, archives and documents. Much of the content available has been digitised as part of the British Library’s digitisation projects, more information which can be found through this website.
- Incunabula Short Title CatalogueThe Incunabula Short Title Catalogue is the international database of 15th-century European printing created by the British Library with contributions from institutions worldwide.
- Library of Congress Bible CollectionThe Mainz and Gutenberg Bibles are representative of two important elements of human written communication — manuscript and printed writing. This exhibition explores the significance of the two Bibles, and the relationship between the Mainz Bible, the Gutenberg Bible, and sixteen selected Bibles from the Library’s collections.
- Catalog of Digitized Medieval ManuscriptsThe DMMapp (Digitized Medieval Manuscripts App) links to more than 500 libraries in the world. Each one of these contains medieval manuscripts that can be browsed for free. The DMMapp is developed by the Sexy Codicology Team; it is part of the Digitized Medieval Manuscripts Maps (DMMmaps) project.
- Consulting Medieval Manuscripts Online--Andy Holt Virtual LibraryThis site, hosted through the University of Tennessee at Martin, features links to collections containing fully digitized medieval manuscripts as well as single digitized individual manuscripts; it also includes links to diverse digitization projects (for example: illustrations, musical notation).
- How to Make a Medieval ManuscriptFrom the Medieval England and France, 700–1200 project, this article includes information and videos on every step of the manuscript production process from crafting writing tools to binding.
- British Library: Medieval England and France, 700-1200This curated selection explores medieval manuscripts that were digitised as part of The Polonsky Foundation England and France Project: Manuscripts from the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, 700–1200. Discover stunning highlights of illuminated manuscripts set in their cultural and historical context and explored in a range of articles.