• Miniatures of bees collecting pollen from flowering plants, and below, of doves nesting in the peridens tree. A dragon waits below the peridens' branches, hoping to have an opportunity to catch one of its enemies, the dove, according to the text. On the opposite page, a snake is depicted in the upper miniature, and a dragon below., Theological miscellany, including the Summa de vitiis (see Notes for contents)

in 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. Bees Peraldus England

• Ink drawings in roundels of a bearded man and a younger man holding a book, at the beginning of an exhortation to study, addressed by a father to his son., 'Scutum Bede', a collection of Latin treatises, including a Libellus de nominibus naturalium rerum (ff. 155v-165)

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

• Decorated initial 'P'(erfecti) with a human head in profile at the base of the initial, a decorated initial 'I' and prickings visible along the left-hand edge of the leaf made with a three-pointed tool., 'Scutum Bede', a collection of Latin treatises, including a Libellus de nominibus naturalium rerum (ff. 155v-165)

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

• Coloured initials 'Q'(uibus), 'R'(ex), 'H'(uic), and 'E'(llredus) in a page of the chronicle in which Thorney and Ramsey are mentioned a few lines above the rubric., 'Scutum Bede', a collection of Latin treatises, including a Libellus de nominibus naturalium rerum (ff. 155v-165)

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

• Decorated initials on a page including a list of kings, in two columns. Next to the name of King Erconbert (d. 664) , half-way down the left column, is a contemporary note in smaller script stating that he was married to Sexburga, sister of Etheldreda, both of whom were abbesses of Ely., 'Scutum Bede', a collection of Latin treatises, including a Libellus de nominibus naturalium rerum (ff. 155v-165)

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

• Decorated initials 'P' and 'B'. In the left margin next to the initial 'P' is a faint letter 'R', for 'red', or 'rouge', in French, and next to the green initial 'B' is a letter that could either be a 'G', for green, or a 'V', for 'vert', in French., 'Scutum Bede', a collection of Latin treatises, including a Libellus de nominibus naturalium rerum (ff. 155v-165)

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

• Decorated initial 'O', and in the lower half of this page, a list of names of animals with some English equivalents next to the Latin written in smaller script. For example, above 'Agna' is 'ewelomb' (ewe lamb); next to 'Porcus' is 'Swin' (Swine) and 'Porc'; below 'Sus' is 'bor' (boar); and on the bottom line next to 'Capra' is 'got' (goat)., 'Scutum Bede', a collection of Latin treatises, including a Libellus de nominibus naturalium rerum (ff. 155v-165)

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

• Decorated headpiece with animals and foliate forms, and decorated foliate initial, at the beginning of the 8th book., History of the Peloponnesian war

foliate or braided decoration at the beginning of books (ff. 1, 31v, 56, 81v, 111v, 133v, 157, 179v). 8 large initials in brown with penwork decoration, including of heads at the beginning of books (ff. 1, 31v, 56, 81v, 111v,

• 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

• Decorated and coloured initials 'N'(atura) and 'H'(omo)., 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 in the table of contents., 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

• Coloured initial 'P'(rima)., Computistica, De temporibus

by the Upper Library at Westminster after the inventory of 1542; Included in the catalogue of 1666, Royal Appendix 71, f. 20; and in the 1698 catalogue of the library of St James's Palace (see [Edward Bernard], ~Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum