GENEALOGICAL SCROLL (MS 98)

c. 1470, England: Measuring over 39 feet (11.9 m) long and just short of 2 feet wide (42 cm) this large medieval scroll is among the longest of its type (of the 75 known and measured examples, only 5 are longer). Beginning with Adam and Eve, the principal line traces all the way down to Edward IV and his resumption to the English throne in 1470. In addition to the English genealogy, the royal families of France and Wales have also been included, along with the bloodlines of several noble houses connected with the royal court, namely the Lacy, Mortimer, Senyville, Plantagenet, Fitzobern, and Marshall families.

FRAGMENT OF A PAPAL BULL (MS 627)

1156, Rome: Believed to have once been part of the binding of one of Parker’s manuscripts (MS 183), this papal bull was written by Pope Adrian IV (1154 – 1159) and sent to Durham. The largest signature in the centre of the bull is that of Adrian himself, while the other signatories made their mark with a cross and then identify themselves by name and office afterwards. The many holes that appear regularly throughout the document are likely the result of this sheet of parchment being incorporated into the earlier binding.

ERASMUS OF ROTTERDAM, LETTER TO MARTIN BUCER (MS 119)

11 November 1527, Basel, Switzerland:

This letter, in Erasmus’s own hand, addresses queries that Martin Bucer seems to have posited in an earlier letter concerning Erasmus’s participation in the Reformation movements on the continent. Though the tone remains friendly, the letter largely condemns not only the ecclesiastical leaders of the Reformation, namely Zwingli, Luther, and Osiander, stating that they ‘wrangle amongst themselves in their nasty little books’, but also the zealotry and intolerant behaviour of their followers. After abruptly ending his letter, and perhaps regretting his harsh critiques of prominent Reformation thinkers, Erasmus entreats Bucer not to ‘spread the letter abroad lest it stir up some commotion’. On the opening above, the third page of Erasmus’s letter is visible on the right, while the left-hand side of the page offers a sixteenth-century transcription this same letter, likely made in response to Erasmus’s notoriously difficult handwriting.

THE ACHADEUS PSALTER (MS 272)

883 – 884, Rheims: Known as the Achadeus Psalter owing to a gilded inscription after Psalm 150 recording that Count Acadeus ordered the Psalter to be made, MS 272 also contains the Canticles, Psalter collects, a litany, and prayers. As the litany makes mention of Pope Marinus (882 – 884), King Carloman (882 – 883) and Fulk, bishop of Rheims (883 – 900) we know that the manuscript was made in France, but as the glosses to the Psalms, which are largely borrowed from Cassiodorus’s Expositio psalmorum, are written in a variation of English Caroline minuscule, we also know that the manuscript was in England by the at least the first quarter of the eleventh century. The size and elaborate character of the initial that begins Psalm 97 seen above speaks to the importance of this psalm, typically the first recitation at Saturday Matins in the medieval secular liturgy.

JUVENCUS, EVANGELIA METRICA (MS 304)

Early Eighth Century, Spain or Italy: Juvencus was an aristocratic Spanish priest who composed this metrical paraphrase of the Gospels in the late fourth century. This manuscript is one of the earliest copies of the text and was likely written in either Spain or Italy – E. A. Lowe, an expert on the uncial script used in this volume states that this manuscript was likely made in Spain in the first edition of his Codices Latini Antiquiores, but changes his mind in his second edition, suggesting instead an Italian provenance. Regardless of the manuscripts origins, it can be conclusively identified as a manuscript listed in the medieval library catalogue of Christ Church, Canterbury.

PRUDENTIUS, PSYCHOMACHIA (MS 23)

Tenth century, England, Canterbury or Malmesbury Abbey: Prudentius’s most influential work, the Psychomachia, tells the story of a battle between the virtues and the vices in which the allied virtues are ultimately victorious. Our copy of the poem is coupled with particularly fine examples of Anglo-Saxon line drawing, which can be attributed to the Canterbury School, though a presentation inscription in the front of the book locates it to Malmesbury Abbey instead. Unlike the heavier style of decoration seen in most contemporary continental manuscripts, these light and airy line drawings are characteristic of English book production prior to the Norman Conquest.

THE DOVER BIBLE, VOL. II (MS 4)

Twelfth century (c. 1160), England, Christ Church, Canterbury: This majestic tome is part of one of the greatest Bibles produced at one of the most important religious houses in post-Conquest England. This is the second half of the magnificent two-volume ‘Giant Bible’ copied at the Benedictine Abbey of Christ Church, Canterbury in the late 1150s but intended for use at its dependent cell of St. Martin’s Priory at Dover, hence our modern naming of it as ‘The Dover Bible’. It was likely commissioned, possibly by Abbot Theobald (d.1161), for presentation to the newly-refounded community at Dover on the occasion of its consecration on 19 October 1160. Although this was undoubtedly one of the community’s most prized treasures, it was intended, and used, for formal reading at a lectern. The Bible ranks amongst the most important manuscripts in Parker’s collection, and contains some of England’s more magnificent Romanesque illuminations, featuring large decorated initials, many illuminated, throughout. That displayed here is one of its most famous. In this initial ‘S’ are illustrated a painter and his assistant, both laymen, at work. The painter (lower left) holds his brush in his right hand and an oyster shell containing his black paint in his left, while his assistant (upper right) is shown mixing paints on a stone slab.

THE CORPUS APOCALYPSE (MS 20)

c.1330-40, England, London / St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury: Lavishly illustrated with over a hundred pictures, the Corpus Apocalypse is one of the finest fourteenth-century illustrated copies of the Book of Revelations, written in Latin and in Anglo-Norman verse. The manuscript was illuminated in London, c.1340, made for Sir Henry de Cobham (d.1339) and was later bequeathed to St. Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury, by Juliana de Leybourne (d.1367), countess of Huntingdon. It comprises a visionary text in which an angel escorts Saint Paul the Apostle on a tour of the underworld (based on a reference in II Corinthians 12:2-4), and he is shown the torments of Hell and the joys of Heaven. This superb full-page illustration at the end of the manuscript shows the consecration of King Edward II in the coronation chair in Westminster Abbey attended by the bishops of England and Wales (on 25th February 1308), showing the bringing in of the holy oil and chrism.

THE REGISTER OF THE LIBRARY OF SYON ABBEY c.1500-c.1524 (MS 141)

c.1500, England, Syon Abbey: The Bridgettine Abbey of Syon, near London, was founded by Henry V in 1415 in honour of Saint Bridget (c. 1303-1373), the Swedish mystic. Almost uniquely in Britain, it was a double house, with both monks and nuns. This is the detailed Registrum, or catalogue of the magnificent library of the monks of Syon, compiled around 1500 by the librarian Thomas Betson (d. 1516). The collection is sub-divided into alphabetical classes, and the leather fore-edge tabs, a typical finding-aid in Syon books, helped its user to navigate the catalogue quickly and efficiently. Betson’s registrum is a carefully planned volume. Its pages are painstakingly designed and its contents neatly arranged, written in an elegant and well-formed script. The effect is one of harmonious, well-balanced order. Each volume’s entry comprises the class-mark letter (in red) and number (in black); the heading “2o fo” (in red), followed by a record of the volume’s title and sometimes contents. This system is explained in the three parallel ‘header’ sections at the top of this page, beginning “Nota”, “Hec” and “In ista”. The rest of the page contains the three entries for shelfmarks ‘A1’ through ‘A3’. On the facing blank page we see Parker’s addition of his own title for the volume – in his characteristic red crayon – as the “Registrum Bibliothace / De Syon”.

BOOK OF HOURS (MS 540)

Late fourteenth century (c.1390-1400), France, Avignon : This charming little late fourteenth century French Book of Hours – or medieval personal prayer book - is a comparatively recent addition to our collection, purchased for the College at auction in 1923 by Lord Queenborough (d. 1949). This prayer book was made in Avignon in the final decade of the fourteenth century, probably commissioned by a patron who very likely lived locally. The book’s decoration and illumination are connected to a group of artists whose work has been identified in a clutch of other Books of Hours, one of whom is believed to be Jean de Toulouse, a celebrated artist documented as working in Avignon between 1378 and 1394 whose style is similar to that of another Parker manuscript, the Miroir des Dames (MS 324), which may have been illuminated for Jeanne d’Evreux, queen of France. The book contains many illuminated ornamental initials and borders plus eight half-page miniatures, such as this framed miniature of the Adoration of the Magi, featuring a background of gold diaper pattern on pale green, below which an ornamental initial of three lines with blue and pink ivy leaves on gold.

CHRONICLE AND REGISTER OF BENEFACTORS OF THE MONASTERY OF ST. ALBANS (MS 7)

Fifteenth century (c.1400-25), England, The Abbey of St. Albans: The Abbey of St. Albans was one of the largest and most important Benedictine houses in England, with a long tradition of historical writing. Almost 150 books may be identified as having survived from the medieval library of St Albans, including eleven acquired by Parker. As one might expect, the most important of Parker’s St. Albans acquisitions are chronicles. In addition to the Abbey’s copies of Matthew Paris’ autograph manuscripts of his Chronica maiora (MSS 26 and 16), and John of Tynemouth’s early 15th-century two-volume Historia Aurea of the Abbey (MSS 5 and 6), Parker acquired this majestic volume, MS 7, which contains the Chronicle of the Abbey (Chronica) and its continuations by the St. Albans chronicler Thomas Walsingham (c. 1370-c. 1422), together with a finely illustrated copy of the same author’s celebrated Register of its Benefactors (Registrum Benefactorum Sancti Albani). These are vital accounts for the history of St. Alban’s, chronicling the history of the community and preserving records of its members and benefactors. Numerous illustrations commemorate many of them, mostly as busts or heads, but a privileged few are depicted as full figures. Principal amongst this privileged elite was the abbey’s Founder, King Offa of Mercia (d.796), shown here holding a model of the Church and charters adorned with seals, resplendent above his glowing description as “Gloriosus Rex Offa merciorum”.