• Decorated initials 'I'(n) and 'N'(otandum) with reserved designs, geometric and arabesque motifs, followed by display script; one simple initial 'A'(udivit)., Sermons on the Gospels

£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 initials Church Fathers England, S. England, S. (Reading)

• Puzzle initial 'O'(nus) with pen-flourishing, at the beginning of Nahum., Minor Prophets, glossed

Herefordshire: inscribed 'Liber sancte marie vallis Dore' (f. 113).Inscribed, 15th century 'Bodduam' (f. 1). John Batteley (b. c.1646, d. 1708), Church of England clergyman and antiquary; bought in 1723 through his nephew, John Batteley, by Edward Harley, along with other

• Puzzle initial 'S'(i consid[er]arem) with pen-flourishing at the beginning of the text., Libellus de jure civili, imperfect

(b. 1635, d. 1699), bishop of Worcester and theologian (see Wright 1972). Edward Stillingfleet (b. 1661, d. 1708), physician and Church of England clergyman, son of the former: in 1707 acquired by Robert Harley (see Wright 1972).The Harley Collection, formed

• Text page., Various texts relating to Scottish history, including the Chronicles of the Picts and Scots (index Scotichronicon)

(b. 1635, d. 1699), bishop of Worcester and theologian (see Wright 1972). Edward Stillingfleet (b. 1661, d. 1708), physician and Church of England clergyman, son of the former; in 1707 acquired by Robert Harley (see Wright 1972).The Harley Collection, formed

• Puzzle initial 'P'(lantaverat) and plain red and blue initials., Versified Bible (index Biblia Versificata)

(b. 1635, d. 1699), bishop of Worcester and theologian (see Wright 1972). Edward Stillingfleet (b. 1661, d. 1708), physician and Church of England clergyman, son of the former; in 1707 acquired by Robert Harley (see Wright 1972).The Harley Collection, formed

• Coloured initial 'G'(reca) at the beginning of Atticus of Constantinople's Epistola formata., De utilitate poenitentiae, Canonum constitutio, Epistola de privilegio Chorepiscoporum, imperfect at the end

large, some small. Rubrics in red. De utilitate poenitentiae, Canonum constitutio, Epistola de privilegio Chorepiscoporum, imperfect at the end The Church of St. Pierre, Ghent, Belgium: its 12th-century ownership inscription inscribed, 'Liber S. Petri Gandensis Ecclesie. Servanti benedictio: tollenti maledictio.

• Coloured initials 'L'(icet) and 'M'(ensis), Rule of Saint Benedict and other religious texts, including the Carta caritatis

(b. 1635, d. 1699), bishop of Worcester and theologian (see Wright 1972). Edward Stillingfleet (b. 1661, d. 1708), physician and Church of England clergyman, son of the former; in 1707 acquired by Robert Harley (see Wright 1972).The Harley Collection, formed

• Pen-flourished initials, 'O'(tium), 'T(ria), 'P'(onam)., Theological tracts

(b. 1635, d. 1699), bishop of Worcester and theologian (see Wright 1972). Edward Stillingfleet (b. 1661, d. 1708), physician and Church of England clergyman, son of the former; in 1707 acquired by Robert Harley (see Wright 1972).The Harley Collection, formed

• Tinted pen-drawing of the Crucifixion.

180-184; available at [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42876], accessed on 30 July 2009. Pen drawing of the Crucifixion tinted in green and pink-brown. The church of St. John Baptist, Pirton (Worcestershire), 14th century: the inscription 'Missale Parochie de Pirton' (recto, above the drawing).The blank

• Calendar page for February, with coloured letters., Psalter, with canticles (ff. 99-108), litany for the use of Exeter, prayers, and offices (The 'Leofric Psalter')

red. Psalter, with canticles (ff. 99-108), litany for the use of Exeter, prayers, and offices (The 'Leofric Psalter') The cathedral church of St Peter, Exeter: evidence of the script and litany; perhaps made for Leofric, bishop (1046-1072) and given by

• Calendar page for April, with coloured letters., Psalter, with canticles (ff. 99-108), litany for the use of Exeter, prayers, and offices (The 'Leofric Psalter')

red. Psalter, with canticles (ff. 99-108), litany for the use of Exeter, prayers, and offices (The 'Leofric Psalter') The cathedral church of St Peter, Exeter: evidence of the script and litany; perhaps made for Leofric, bishop (1046-1072) and given by

• Text page with coloured initials., Psalter, with canticles (ff. 99-108), litany for the use of Exeter, prayers, and offices (The 'Leofric Psalter')

red. Psalter, with canticles (ff. 99-108), litany for the use of Exeter, prayers, and offices (The 'Leofric Psalter') The cathedral church of St Peter, Exeter: evidence of the script and litany; perhaps made for Leofric, bishop (1046-1072) and given by

• Swan marks., Collection of swan-marks displayed in alphabetical order, beginning with the royal swan mark before Henry VIII

of fragments of different date and origin bound at the beginning of the 16th-century swan-mark collection.The statutes of the Norwegian Church were established at the synod of Bergen in 1164 after the election of King Magnus: this fragment relates to

• Preface and beginning of Luke's gospel with decorated initial 'Q'(uoniam) enclosing a flower., Bodmin Gospels (St Petroc Gospels); records of grants of manumission in Old English and Latin added on blank leaves and in margins (ff. 1, 8, 13, 141)

St Petroc, Bodmin by the end of the 10th century: records of public manumissions at the high altar of the church were added in Anglo-Saxon minuscule in the 2nd half of the 10th and the 11th centuries. They include the

• Initial 'I'(n) in the form of a dragon, and 'B'(eatus) with two bishops with crosiers, the lower with a closed book;and the ownership inscription: 'Liber Sancte Trinitatis de Kirkham' in the lower margin., Lections for feasts of saints, including Vita Gregorii, the life of St Augustine; Nativitate St Maria, Vita Edwardi regis (one chapter), and other texts

Nativitate St Maria, Vita Edwardi regis (one chapter), and other texts The Augustinian priory of the Holy Trinity or Christ Church, Kirkham, Yorkshire, founded c.1122 (12th century or 13th century inscription 'Liber Sancte Trinitatis de Kirkham', f. 1; added letter

• initial 'P'(etisa) and three pairs of busts men and women, labelled Ioachim and Anna, Ioseph and Sancte Maria, and Alpheus and [Mary] Cleophe., Lections for feasts of saints, including Vita Gregorii, the life of St Augustine; Nativitate St Maria, Vita Edwardi regis (one chapter), and other texts

Nativitate St Maria, Vita Edwardi regis (one chapter), and other texts The Augustinian priory of the Holy Trinity or Christ Church, Kirkham, Yorkshire, founded c.1122 (12th century or 13th century inscription 'Liber Sancte Trinitatis de Kirkham', f. 1; added letter

• Historiated initial 'M'(emoriam) with the archangel Michael spearing and standing on a dragon, at the beginning of a sermon for the dedication of the church of the archangel Michael., Passionale (Lives of the Saints) 21 September- 9 November

dragon, at the beginning of a sermon for the dedication of the church of the archangel Michael. Note that the manuscript is one part of a seven volume set, and a companion and predecessor to Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Fell

• null, Epitome bellorum omnium annorum DCC

1 large foliate initial in colours on a burnished punched gold ground (f. 1, perhaps 19th-century ?), with a three-sided border incorporating heraldic arms. Small initials alternately plain red or blue, often in unusual angular forms. Epitome bellorum omnium

• null, Epitome bellorum omnium annorum DCC

1 large foliate initial in colours on a burnished punched gold ground (f. 1, perhaps 19th-century ?), with a three-sided border incorporating heraldic arms. Small initials alternately plain red or blue, often in unusual angular forms. Epitome bellorum omnium

• Puzzle initial 'R'(esurrexi) at the beginning of the music for Easter day., Gradual of Crowland abbey, imperfect ('The Crowland Gradual')

Thomas Manning has scripsit anno domini 1655' (f. 140) .? Edward and Roger Howman Norfolk: inscritions 'Edw: Howman' and 'Ancient Church Musick long before the Reformation or Printing' (f. i); and 'R. Howman (f. iv verso).G. J. Little of Newbold