Collection name. Medieval and early modern manuscripts.
Record Group
Identifier: Collection name
Found in 229 Collections and/or Records:
Perth Psalter, containing calendar, psalter, canticles, and litany.
Item
Identifier: MS.652
Scope and Contents
Referred to as the Perth Psalter from the entry in the calendar on 3rd September, ‘Dedicacio ecclesie de Perth’.The calendar and the litany are based on the use of Sarum, with additional entries for Scottish Saints. There are several illuminated capitals, four of the larger of these are accompanied by full-page borders of conventional foliage. Accompanying the manuscript is a list of additions to the calendar in a later cursive hand which were brought out by chemical action by F...
Dates:
Late 15th century.
Poems in Scots of the Reverend James Melville, minister of Kilrenny, mostly on religious themes
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.19.2.7
Scope and Contents
The contents of the manuscript are as follows:(i) Sonnets and short poems, some relating to Andrew Melville, written in 1610 and 1611 (folio 1). (ii) Copy of Hugh Broughton`s pamphlet `A Petition to the Lords to examine the religion and cariage of R. Ban[croft] Archbishop. Anno.1608` (folio 12).(iii) `A Preservative from Apostasie or the Song of Moses ... translated out of Hebrew and put in metre first shortly neere the text and than more at large...
Dates:
1606-1611.
Preaching-book of John of Grimestone, a Franciscan friar from Norfolk.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.18.7.21
Scope and Contents
The sermon topics are arranged alphabetically, with an index at the beginning (folios 7-9); the heading and number of each is repeated at the top of each page. The last three in the index (numbers 141-143, De Vsura, De Vita, De Veste) are missing from the text. The topics are predominantly in Latin, a very few in French, and consist of quotations (from the Bible, classical authors, especially Cicero and Seneca, the Fathers, and medieval authors) and moral tales and happenings. Interspersed...
Dates:
1372.
Psalter, probably written in the area around Liège in the 14th century
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.18.8.17
Scope and Contents
The contents are as follows:(i) Calendar in red and black with solar notations and Easter on 27 March (folio 1). All the entries are among the feasts listed in ‘Gothic manuscript illumination in the diocese of Liège (c.1250-c.1330)’, ii, pages 214-228, except `Inventio sancti dyonisii` (22 April) in red. Saints Agatha, Egidius, Lambert, Remigius and Germanus, and Dyonisius cum sociis suis are also in red, and Saints Emmerentian, Gertrude, Ursmar, Remaclus, Hubert, and the...
Dates:
14th century.
'Ramsay psalter', written in France in the late 13th century for use at Saint Omer, and then in the possession of the Ramsay family of Colluthie
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.18.8.8
Scope and Contents
The contents are as follows:(i) Calendar in black and red (folio 1) containing several saints of the Saint Omer region but not the relics of St Maxime at Thérouanne. It includes Saints Silvinus (17 February), Omer (8 June, 9 September, 21 October), Bertin (16 July and 5 September), Francis (4 October) and Folquinus (14 December). Saints Denis and Thomas Becket are in red. Obits have been added in later hands for Robert III, James V and various members of the Ramsay family of...
Dates:
Late 13th century.
Register of the bishopric of Dunblane, entitled 'Registrum capituli Dunblanensis', 1663-1688.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.34.4.8
Scope and Contents
The volume contains records of the bishopric from 15 January 1663 to 14 August 1688.
Paginated [1]-235 by a contemporary hand, with page 225 repeated in pagination. Written by several different hands, with a noticeable change of hands on page 174. According to a note by the donor on folio iii verso, the main scribe of the volume was John Graham, commissary clerk and clerk of the Chapter of Dunblane.
Dates:
1663-1688.
Register of the Cathedral Church and Bishopric of Aberdeen, also known as the 'Registrum Album', written between 1380 and 1550.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.16.1.10
Scope and Contents
Manuscript written in Scotland containing the register of the cathedral church and bishopric of Aberdeen. This volume, also known as the 'Registrum Album', is a composite work containing miscellaneous charters of the church and see, including sections of royal and papal charters, as well as grants by the bishops. The manuscript dates from the late 14th century, with additions which extend into the 16th century. Davis has suggested that the work was probably begun during the...
Dates:
1380-1550.
Register of the Chapel Royal of Stirling, written, circa 1537, by John Lambert, prebendary of the Chapel.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.34.1.5
Scope and Contents
The register contains copies of papal bulls and other documents concerning the Chapel, dated from 1501 to 1537. The text is all in Lambert`s hand, except for folios 41-42, and there are large calligraphic initials. Each folio is signed by James Primrose, clerk to the Privy Council; this was probably done in 1621 when the Register and other documents of the Chapel Royal were put into his keeping for transfer to the Bishop of Dunblane (see ‘Register of the Privy Council...
Dates:
1501-1537.
Regula of the Knights Templar, and works concerning ceremonial orders, heraldry and tournaments.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.32.6.9
Scope and Contents
The contents of the manuscript are as follows:(i) Statutes of the Order of the Garter in English (folio 1). The Statutes are those of Edward VI, 17 March 1552/1553, and are followed by a list of knights present at that Chapter. For other Statutes in English, see Adv.MS.31.7.18.(ii) `Regula pauperum commilitonum Christi templique salomonici` by Joannes Michaelensis, written in two hands of the 12th century (folio 18). The order of chapters differs from that given in...
Dates:
12th century-17th century.
Rental of Paisley Abbey, written between 1460 and 1550.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.15.1.17
Scope and Contents
Manuscript rental book for Paisley Abbey, written in Scotland, containing statistical information and a series of individual rentals from the period 1460 to 1550, with a later marginal addition of 1555.The record is sporadically kept. Farnhill observes that the earliest extant rentals were drawn up in 1460. The next sets of rentals date from 1472 and 1484. Subsequently there are rentals which cover the years 1519 to 1522, and then a final completed rental from 1525. Towards the...
Dates:
1460 - 1550.
'Rosslyn missal', a manuscript written in Ireland probably for Down Cathedral, Downpatrick.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.18.5.19
Scope and Contents
Manuscript written in Ireland, probably for Down Cathedral in Downpatrick. Lawlor has dated the work as probably of the 13th or early 14th century based on palaeographic evidence. Henry and Marsh-Micheli have suggested the work could also be attributed to the 12th century based on the decoration. This manuscript is a missal of the English (pre-Sarum) type introduced into Ireland from the later 12th century, with a few archaic, possibly local, features. The missal appears to have...
Dates:
13th century.
'Ruskin Bible'.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.1.1.1
Scope and Contents
The manuscript, written in Northern France, takes its name from John Ruskin who greatly admired it (`The Works of John Ruskin`, edited by E T Cook and A Wedderburn (London, 1903-1912), volume xii, page 144). It is described in the exhibition catalogue `Treasures from Scottish Libraries` (Edinburgh, 1964), number 20.Sir John Sinclair’s `Statistical Account of Scotland, 1791-1799` (Wakefield, 1978), x, page 294 refers to a note with the manuscript which stated that it was used ‘in...
Dates:
2nd half of 13th century.
Sarum processional, 15th century.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.18.5.20
Scope and Contents
15th-century processional produced in England. The manuscript contains musical services according to the Use of Sarum. The work is written in littera textualis with 24 lines to a page.The contents are as follows:Temporale. Folios 1r-143v.Sanctorale. Folios 144r-176v.Commune Sanctorum and Votive. Folios 176v-193v. Folio 1r is extensively decorated and features two illuminated initials and a complete border. The initials are blue and...
Dates:
15th century.
Schoolbook, transcribed in the early 12th century, containing notes and glosses (in Latin and German) on authors studied in schools and other texts which could be used in teaching.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.18.5.10
Scope and Contents
The contents of the manuscript are as follows:(i) Juvenal, 'Satires': citations with commentary in alphabetical order of keyword, incipit 'Maior auaritie patuit'. (i.88). (Folio 1.)(ii) Lucan, 'Civil War': introduction and citations with and without commentary from books 1-6 and 9, incipit 'Lucanii sum(m)a utilitas e(st) i(n) topog(ra)phia'. (Folio 5 verso.)(iii) Philosophical notes, possibly connected to Porphyry's introduction to Aristotle's 'Analytica...
Dates:
Early 12th century.
'Scotus Pauperum': a manuscript copy of the elucidation by Guillermus Gorris of Aragon on Duns Scotus's commentary on the 'Sentences' of Peter Lombard.
Item
Identifier: Acc.11759
Scope and Contents
A manuscript probably written in eastern France in ca. 1490. It is possibly linked to, or copied from, a contemporary printed edition of Gorris's work. Begins with an address by the author to Alfonso of Aragon, archbishop of Saragossa, folio 1r: "Reuerendissimo in Christo patri et illustrissimo domino domino Alfonso de Aragonia archiepiscopo cesaragustam[?] dignissimo, subditus Gulliermus Gorris post deuotissima [...] humilime se commendat." This address is dated 1486. The text...
Dates:
Circa 1490.
Sermones de Tempore, a homiliary written in the early 12th century for Rochester Cathedral Priory.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.18.2.4
Scope and Contents
The book is in the tradition of the homiliary compiled by Paulus Diaconus at the command of Charlemagne (see ‘Homéliaires liturgiques médiévaux’, chapter XIII), with additions for the weekdays after Pentecost and the Nativity, and a few other alterations (some of these are shared with the version of Paulus printed in ‘Patrologia Latina’, 95, others with contemporary English homiliaries, cf. `Texts and their traditions in the medieval library of Rochester Cathedral Priory`, chapter IV). ...
Dates:
Early 12th century.
'Tabula super bibliam': an early 15th-century glossed copy of a summary of the Bible in Latin verse by Johannes Vasco, Order of Friars Minor, with explanatory verses which give the date of composition as 1393.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.18.4.2
Scope and Contents
The text begins 'Ante fir. lux producitur' and the interlinear gloss '[fir]mamentum. quia deus appellat diem'. There are also interlinear capitals indicating to which parts of the chapter the verse refers. Rubrics at the beginning of each book give the number of chapters. The text is followed (folio 123) by mnemonic verses on the books of the Bible with the numbers of their chapters, beginning 'Pentateu genesis exitque levi'; explanatory verses (folio 123 verso) beginning 'Finit tractatus...
Dates:
Early 15th century.
'The Carver Choirbook', a sixteenth-century manuscript also known as the 'Scone Antiphonary'.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.5.1.15
Scope and Contents
Choirbook produced in Scotland containing polyphonic settings for Masses, Magnificats, motets, with other various fragments. The manuscript contains works by Carver himself and by other composers of the period, including Dufay, Nesbett, Lambe, Cornysh (Senior), and Fayrfax. The volume was previously thought to have been copied by Carver at the Abbey of Scone, but scholars now agree that it was probably written at the Chapel Royal at Stirling. Not all of the compositions are complete and the...
Dates:
16th century
The Chronicle of Fortingall, a 16th-century manuscript written in Highland Perthshire, Scotland.
Item
Identifier: MS.50300
Scope and Contents
A manuscript of varied contents, written by a group of scribes in Fortingall, Perthshire, mostly in the third quarter of the 16th century. The volume chronicles deaths and other events mainly in Highland Perthshire and other Highlands areas, but it also occasionally includes events of national concern, such as those surrounding the forced abdication of Mary, Queen of Scots. The chronicle entries are mainly in Latin, sometimes with Scots words used instead Latin terms, but a number of...
Dates:
ca. 1550-1579
The Sweetheart Breviary, a breviary written in the 14th century for use at Sweetheart Abbey, near Dumfries.
Item
Identifier: MS.40000
Scope and Contents
The winter part of a Breviary written for use at the Cistercian Abbey of Sweetheart near Dumfries, which was founded in 1273 by Dervorguilla (Dearbhfhorgaill) of Galloway, widow of John Balliol. The Breviary, which follows Scottish Cistercian practice, can from internal evidence be dated to 1330-1350. The calendar includes the feast of St Thomas Aquinas, which was added to the Cistercian calendar in 1329, but omits feasts that were added in 1350 or later. In addition to...
Dates:
Ca. 1330-1350.
Transcript, early 19th-century, of 'The Passioun of Crist' by Walter Kennedy, from British Library Arundel MS 285, folios 6-46.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.19.1.2
Scope and Contents
The transcript has been corrected in another contemporary hand.
Dates:
16th century.
Transcript, written in 1528, of the chartulary of Crail Collegiate Church.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.34.4.6
Scope and Contents
Manuscript containing a transcript of the chartulary of Crail Collegiate Church, which was founded as a Collegiate in 1517.The volume consists of transcripts of the charters of constitution and endowment, with inventories of plates, ornaments and books. The work is arranged in a rough topographical order, and the charters are followed by their respective instruments.Davis dates the manuscript to 1528. The main body of work covers the years 1499-1530. The volume is...
Dates:
1528
Treatises on alchemy.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.20.8.1
Scope and Contents
The contents of the manuscript are as follows:(i) 'Conpositum de Conpositis abstractis a philosophis'. See 'Catalogue of Latin and vernacular alchemical manuscripts', number 290, which ascribes the work to 'magistri Parisii'. For a summary of the contents and discussion of possible authorship, see ‘History of magic and experimental science’ (London, 1923-1958), volume iii, page 133-135. A colophon gives the place and date of compilation of the treatise as Paris, May, 1331, and...
Dates:
14th century.
Treatises on medicine, astronomy and astrology written by Francisco Argilagues of Valencia, mostly while he was studying medicine at Siena in 1472-1473, with an addition made at Padua in 1480.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.18.6.2
Scope and Contents
From the subscriptions and the physical make-up of the volume it appears that there were originally four booklets, bound together a century later.The contents of the volume are as follows:- Written in 1472 with additions in 1480:`Sermo de conservatione sanitatis` by Filippe Bandini of Arezzo (‘Catalogue of Incipits of Medieval Scientific Writings in Latin’, column 1294). The beginning is lost but author (Philip de Roderia) and title (`Regimen...
Dates:
1472-1480.
Two 13th-century English medical manuscripts, bound together from an early date, each in the hands of two scribes.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.18.2.5
Scope and Contents
(i) Serapion (ibn Sarābī). `Liber aggeratus in medicinis simplicibus`, translated by Simon of Genoa and Abraham Tortuosiensis, incipit `Postquam vidi librum Dyascoridis et librum Galeni in medicinis` (folio 1).(ii) Alī ibn al-`Abbās al-Mağūsī. `Pantegni`, translated by Constantinus Africanus (folio 123). The text is sometimes attributed to Isaac (Isḥāq ibn Sulaiman al-Isrāeli) and was printed in his ‘Opera’. This is the earliest version of Constantinus` translation; it contains...
Dates:
13th century.