• Decorated initial 'B'(eatus) combined with a full foliate bar border including interlace at the beginning of Psalm 1., Psalter, imperfect

1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library. Beatus initial Winchester England,

• Decorated initial 'D'(ixit) combined with a full foliate bar border including interlace at the beginning of Psalm 38., Psalter, imperfect

1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library. Decorated initial Winchester England,

• null, Legenda aurea (index Legendae sanctorum; Legends of the saints; Golden Legend)

d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos: sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham. Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham Place, Sussex.Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1840, d. 1913), 5th earl of Ashburnham: purchased by the

• null, Legenda aurea (index Legendae sanctorum; Legends of the saints; Golden Legend)

d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos: sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham. Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham Place, Sussex.Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1840, d. 1913), 5th earl of Ashburnham: purchased by the

• Marginal drawing of travellers, speaking In English, in the margin of Jacobus de Voragine's life of Cecila., Legenda aurea (index Legendae sanctorum; Legends of the saints; Golden Legend)

Marginal drawing of travellers, speaking In English, in the margin of Jacobus de Voragine's life of Cecila. Rust-stains from a chain-staple (?) at the lower edge of the front flyleaves (ff. [iii-]iv]). 4 large puzzle initials in red and blue

• Decorated initials 'D'(ilecto) and 'G'(loriosi) in Aelred of Rievaulx's Vita sancti Edwardi regis Anglorum., Epistola Cuthberti, Ecclesiastica historia; Aelred's Vita sancti Edwardi regis Anglorum (ff. 118-149), and other theological works

Ripon. Cuthbert subsequently became prior of Melrose, then prior of Lindisfarne, and went on to live as a hermit on the island of Inner Farne, off the coast of Northumberland. He was consecrated as bishop of Lindisfarne in 685 but

• Decorated initials 'U'(t) and 'S'(uccessit) at the beginning of book 5 of Bede's Ecclesiastica historia., Epistola Cuthberti, Ecclesiastica historia; Aelred's Vita sancti Edwardi regis Anglorum (ff. 118-149), and other theological works

Ripon. Cuthbert subsequently became prior of Melrose, then prior of Lindisfarne, and went on to live as a hermit on the island of Inner Farne, off the coast of Northumberland. He was consecrated as bishop of Lindisfarne in 685 but

• Illuminated historiated initial 'I'(n) with scenes of the days of Creation and the Crucifixion, at the beginning of Genesis., Bible, with prologues and interpretations of Hebrew names (ff. 426-465v) and some explanatory notes on each book, entitled 'glose divinorum librorum' (ff. 466-478v)

1st duke of Buckingham and Chandos, of Stowe House, near Buckingham.Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1797, d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos: sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham. Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham

• Historiated illuminated initial 'L'(iber) of a Tree of Jesse including Mary and Christ, at the beginning of Matthew., Bible, with prologues and interpretations of Hebrew names (ff. 426-465v) and some explanatory notes on each book, entitled 'glose divinorum librorum' (ff. 466-478v)

1st duke of Buckingham and Chandos, of Stowe House, near Buckingham.Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1797, d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos: sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham. Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham

• Historiated illuminated initials 'M'(archus) and 'I'(nitium) with Mark's symbol of a lion and Mark holding a book within a micro-architectural frame above a dragon, at the beginning of the preface to Mark., Bible, with prologues and interpretations of Hebrew names (ff. 426-465v) and some explanatory notes on each book, entitled 'glose divinorum librorum' (ff. 466-478v)

1st duke of Buckingham and Chandos, of Stowe House, near Buckingham.Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1797, d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos: sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham. Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham

• Zoomorphic initial 'V'(erba) with foliate decoration, at the beginning of Jeremiah., Jeremiah and Daniel with the Glossa Ordinaria

~A Catalogue of the Manuscripts of the King’s Library~ (London, 1734)).Inscribed 'Liber Petri Alfusi', referred to the Disciplina Clericalis of Petrus Alphonsi, 14th century (f. 1).The Benedictine cathedral priory of St. Mary, Worcester: inscribed by William Thornhill ofYork, c.

• Detail of an inhabited initial 'S'(osius) with foliate decoration and two lions., Antiquitates iudaicae (books XV-XX), De bello iudaico

(f. 1), included in the inventory of books in the Upper Library at Westminster of 1542; in the catalogue of 1666, Royal Appendix 71, f. 7b; and in the 1698 catalogue of the library of St James’s Palace (see [Edward

• Detail of an inhabited initial 'A'(ntipatro) with foliate decoration, a lion, and a bird, at the beginning of book 17., Antiquitates iudaicae (books XV-XX), De bello iudaico

(f. 1), included in the inventory of books in the Upper Library at Westminster of 1542; in the catalogue of 1666, Royal Appendix 71, f. 7b; and in the 1698 catalogue of the library of St James’s Palace (see [Edward

• Text page., Antiquitates iudaicae (books XV-XX), De bello iudaico

(f. 1), included in the inventory of books in the Upper Library at Westminster of 1542; in the catalogue of 1666, Royal Appendix 71, f. 7b; and in the 1698 catalogue of the library of St James’s Palace (see [Edward

• Detail of a decorated initial 'T'., Antiquitates iudaicae (books XV-XX), De bello iudaico

(f. 1), included in the inventory of books in the Upper Library at Westminster of 1542; in the catalogue of 1666, Royal Appendix 71, f. 7b; and in the 1698 catalogue of the library of St James’s Palace (see [Edward

• Beginning of the table of contents with decorated and coloured initials., De universo seu De rerum naturis

'Etymologies' of Isidore, of Rabanus Maurus (b. c. 776, d. 856), abbot of Fulda and later archbishop of Mainz (ff. 6-282v), preceded by the letters to Louis the Germanic, king of Germany (843-876) (ff. 1-2), and to Haymo, bishop of

• Inhabited initial 'P'(rimum) with human figures and animals, at the beginning of Book 1., De universo seu De rerum naturis

'Etymologies' of Isidore, of Rabanus Maurus (b. c. 776, d. 856), abbot of Fulda and later archbishop of Mainz (ff. 6-282v), preceded by the letters to Louis the Germanic, king of Germany (843-876) (ff. 1-2), and to Haymo, bishop of

• Detail of an inhabited initial 'P'(rimum) with human figures and animals, at the beginning of Book 1., De universo seu De rerum naturis

'Etymologies' of Isidore, of Rabanus Maurus (b. c. 776, d. 856), abbot of Fulda and later archbishop of Mainz (ff. 6-282v), preceded by the letters to Louis the Germanic, king of Germany (843-876) (ff. 1-2), and to Haymo, bishop of

• Detail of an inhabited initial 'P'(rimum) with human figures and animals, at the beginning of Book 1., De universo seu De rerum naturis

'Etymologies' of Isidore, of Rabanus Maurus (b. c. 776, d. 856), abbot of Fulda and later archbishop of Mainz (ff. 6-282v), preceded by the letters to Louis the Germanic, king of Germany (843-876) (ff. 1-2), and to Haymo, bishop of

• Text page with a drawing of a hand pointing to text from the margin., De universo seu De rerum naturis

'Etymologies' of Isidore, of Rabanus Maurus (b. c. 776, d. 856), abbot of Fulda and later archbishop of Mainz (ff. 6-282v), preceded by the letters to Louis the Germanic, king of Germany (843-876) (ff. 1-2), and to Haymo, bishop of