medieval manuscripts - resources

My medieval manuscripts resources are listed here more as a personal reminder of digitized collections/various topics of interest/anything else I have used that I don't want to forget about :)

Maybe they will be of interest to you, too!

Links open a new window for you.

digitised collections

** Starred links mean that on these sites I have found free/royalty free/public domain/reusable images or the option of embedded content that can be shared on your site. There may be images on these sites that are not reusable, however - so double check the copyright status of any image you want to use.

Other sites may have reusable content, but either not so much, or their terms of use weren't 100% clear.

The British Library Digitised Manuscripts - medieval, global, tons to browse

Digital Bodleian - Bodleian Libraries and Oxford college libraries

Cambridge Digital Libary - another rich resource

** Wren Digital Library - digitised collections from the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge

** e-codices - virtual manuscript library of Switzerland

Medieval Manuscripts of France and England - Bibliothèque Nationale de France and British Library partnership with manuscripts from 700 - 1200.

**Parker Library on the Web - Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, a digital exhibit from Corpus Christi College and Stanford University Libraries

Harvard Library Botanical Illustrations - from the Botany Libraries

Harvard Library Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts - from Houghton Library

Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts - the Morgan Library and Museum

** The Walters Art Museum - digitised manuscripts from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

** The J. Paul Getty Museum - 9th to 16th centuries, lots to browse here

** Wellcome Collection - search under the "images" tab to find pictures of trees, manuscripts, scrolls - or anything else!

The Schøyen Collection - a fascinating private collection of world manuscripts

Society of Antiquaries - Magna Carta, Winton Domesday. The Society also has a section about Kelmscott Manor, the retreat of William Morris, which it owns (and I have visited, super place!)

** Phaidra - the University of Paduva Library System - art, history, culture, botanical gardens, illustrated herbals ... a superbly built site and well worth a visit!

DigiVatLib - the Digital Vatican Library

Belgica - digitised collections from KBR (formerly the Royal Library of Belgium)

Medieval codices info

British Library Glossary - glossary for the British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts

Introduction to Medieval Books - University of Nottingham

The Making of Medieval Manuscripts - an excellent online exhibition by the Parker Library on the Web.

Medieval Manuscript Repair - Atlas Obscura

Medieval Scrolls - an Introduction

writing & decorating the codex

Books to borrow from the Internet Archive - requires registration:

Michelle P. Brown - A Guide to Western Historical Scripts from Antiquity to 1600

J.J.G. Alexander -  The Decorated Letter

Christopher de Hamel - A History of Illuminated Manuscripts


Online/downloadable titles from MetPublications, the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

Melanie Holcomb - Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages

Timothy B. Husband & Margaret Lawson: The Art of Illumination: The Limbourg Brothers and the Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry


Latin Paleography - from Roman Book Capital through to Uncial, Semi-Uncial, Insular scripts, Visigothic, Carolingian, Gothic, and everything in between, this is a great series of articles from the Vatican Library.

other interesting stuff

History of Information - the "History of Information and Media through Timelines".