• Detail of an historiated initial 'P'(ost) of Christ giving a spear to Judah, at the beginning of Judges., Bible (Octateuch)

Detail of an historiated initial 'P'(ost) of Christ giving a spear to Judah, at the beginning of Judges. Catchwords, quire signatures in upper or lower margins, guide numbers for chapter numbers, numerous corrections and corrector's signatures 'corr' next to catchwords.According

• Foliate initial 'R(uth) with a partial border, at the beginning of the prologue to Ruth., Bible (Octateuch)

signatures 'corr' next to catchwords.According to Michael A. Michael, this manuscript was designed as part of a set of four volumes comprising the entire text of the Bible. The present manuscript is the only one to have survived intact, but

• Miniature next to the initial 'I'(n principio) of twelve compartments containing the Days of Creation, Temptation, Expulsion from Paradise and Labours of Adam and Eve, with display script and a miniature of Crucifixion below, at the beginning of Genesis. Full border with a medallion of Descent into Limbo in the lower margin., Bible (Octateuch)

principio) of twelve compartments containing the Days of Creation, Temptation, Expulsion from Paradise and Labours of Adam and Eve, with display script and a miniature of Crucifixion below, at the beginning of Genesis. Full border with a medallion of Descent

• Detail of a miniature next to the initial 'I'(n principio) of twelve compartments containing the Days of Creation, Temptation, Expulsion from Paradise and Labours of Adam and Eve, with display script and a miniature of Crucifixion below, at the beginning of Genesis., Bible (Octateuch)

of a miniature next to the initial 'I'(n principio) of twelve compartments containing the Days of Creation, Temptation, Expulsion from Paradise and Labours of Adam and Eve, with display script and a miniature of Crucifixion below, at the beginning

• Text page from Genesis., Bible (Octateuch)

signatures 'corr' next to catchwords.According to Michael A. Michael, this manuscript was designed as part of a set of four volumes comprising the entire text of the Bible. The present manuscript is the only one to have survived intact, but

• Historiated initial 'I' of Elimelech and Naomi with her children, at the beginning of Ruth., Bible (Octateuch)

beginning of Ruth. Catchwords, quire signatures in upper or lower margins, guide numbers for chapter numbers, numerous corrections and corrector's signatures 'corr' next to catchwords.According to Michael A. Michael, this manuscript was designed as part of a set of four

• Detail of an historiated initial 'I' of Elimelech and Naomi with her children, at the beginning of Ruth., Bible (Octateuch)

Detail of an historiated initial 'I' of Elimelech and Naomi with her children, at the beginning of Ruth. Catchwords, quire signatures in upper or lower margins, guide numbers for chapter numbers, numerous corrections and corrector's signatures 'corr' next to catchwords.According

• Historiated initial 'H'(ec) of Moses and the Israelites, at the beginning of Exodus., Bible (Octateuch)

beginning of Exodus. Catchwords, quire signatures in upper or lower margins, guide numbers for chapter numbers, numerous corrections and corrector's signatures 'corr' next to catchwords.According to Michael A. Michael, this manuscript was designed as part of a set of four

• Detail of an historiated initial 'H'(ec) of Moses and the Israelites, at the beginning of Exodus., Bible (Octateuch)

Detail of an historiated initial 'H'(ec) of Moses and the Israelites, at the beginning of Exodus. Catchwords, quire signatures in upper or lower margins, guide numbers for chapter numbers, numerous corrections and corrector's signatures 'corr' next to catchwords.According to Michael

• Text page of Leviticus 18: 16, reading 'Et uxorem fratris sui nullus accipet' ('Nobody may marry his brother's wife') marked by a manicule in the margin., Bible (Octateuch)

signatures 'corr' next to catchwords.According to Michael A. Michael, this manuscript was designed as part of a set of four volumes comprising the entire text of the Bible. The present manuscript is the only one to have survived intact, but

• Detail of a miniature of the Damsel of Hungerford with Arthur and Guinevere, with an illuminated initial overpainted with the arms of Bohun., Lancelot du Lac

Detail of a miniature of the Damsel of Hungerford with Arthur and Guinevere, with an illuminated initial overpainted with the arms of Bohun. The text is the third part, i.e. the Lancelot section, of the five-part Lancelot-Grail romance in French

• Miniature of Arthur engaged in conversation with his barons, while Lancelot and Guinevere are whispering together, and on the right, the king and queen presiding over a banquet; with an illuminated initial 'M'(out) containing the arms of England and Bohun, and a full bar border with scenes of two men fighting and monkeys at school, in the lower margin., Lancelot du Lac

The royal arms of England (e.g., ff. 60, 95), France (e.g., ff. 9, 266), and of Leon-Castile (ff. 295v, 301), some with incorrect tinctures.A member of the Bohun family, possibly Humphrey of Bohun (d. 1373), 11th earl of Hereford, Essex

• Detail of a miniature of Arthur engaged in conversation with his barons, while Lancelot and Guinevere are whispering together, and on the right, the king and queen presiding over a banquet., Lancelot du Lac

The royal arms of England (e.g., ff. 60, 95), France (e.g., ff. 9, 266), and of Leon-Castile (ff. 295v, 301), some with incorrect tinctures.A member of the Bohun family, possibly Humphrey of Bohun (d. 1373), 11th earl of Hereford, Essex

• Miniature of the Damsel of Hungerford with Arthur and Guinevere, with an illuminated initial overpainted with the arms of Bohun, and partial bar borders containing a woman playing the drum and a man playing with a dog., Lancelot du Lac

The royal arms of England (e.g., ff. 60, 95), France (e.g., ff. 9, 266), and of Leon-Castile (ff. 295v, 301), some with incorrect tinctures.A member of the Bohun family, possibly Humphrey of Bohun (d. 1373), 11th earl of Hereford, Essex

• Initial with penwork decoration., St David's Register and Statute Book, including copies of episcopal, royal and papal documents and grants, imperfect

copies of episcopal, royal and papal documents and grants, imperfect The manuscript was probably compiled during the episcopate of Edward Vaughan (index Fychan) (b. c. 1450, d. 1522/3), bishop of St David's 1509-1522 (see Harper 2007).The Catholic church of St

• Decorated initial 'E'(dwardus)., Statutes (Henry III to Richard II), imperfect at the end (index Statuta)

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. Decorated initial England

• Decorated initial 'C'(om[m]e hugh le despenser)., Various documents and legal texts including a list of English counts, a list of English knights, statutes of king Edward III from the 1st to the 50th year of his reign (1327-1377), and statutes of king Richard II up to the 14th year of his reign (1391)

a list of English counts, a list of English knights, statutes of king Edward III from the 1st to the 50th year of his reign (1327-1377), and statutes of king Richard II up to the 14th year of his reign

• Genealogy of the dukes of Normandy: Richard the Fearless (d. 996)., Statutes of William the Bastard (ff. 1-8v); Genealogical diagram of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and family tree from Ethelbert to Edward III (r. 1327-1377) (ff. 9-18v)

Genealogy of the dukes of Normandy: Richard the Fearless (d. 996). A composite manuscript. Diagrams and family trees in red, grey and yellow ink. Statutes of William the Bastard (ff. 1-8v); Genealogical diagram of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and family tree

• null, Facsimile of the Vatican Virgil (Rome, Vatican, Bibliotheca Apostolica, Cod. Vat. 3867) (index Virgilius; Vergilius; Vergil)

lot 419; bought by Lansdowne for twenty guineas.William Petty (~formerly~ Fitzmaurice) (b. 1737, d. 1805), 2nd earl of Shelburne and 1st marquess of Lansdowne, prime minister: his book-plate (inside upper cover); purchased by the British Museum together with 1244 other

• null, Facsimile of the Vatican Virgil (Rome, Vatican, Bibliotheca Apostolica, Cod. Vat. 3867) (index Virgilius; Vergilius; Vergil)

lot 419; bought by Lansdowne for twenty guineas.William Petty (~formerly~ Fitzmaurice) (b. 1737, d. 1805), 2nd earl of Shelburne and 1st marquess of Lansdowne, prime minister: his book-plate (inside upper cover); purchased by the British Museum together with 1244 other