It's Friday, it's recently been snowing in England (it is May, after all), so it's time for another of our award-winning series, Guess the Manuscript®. This item belongs to the British Library's collections -- but what is it? A trawl through our Digitised Manuscripts site may give you a clue.

The answer will be revealed last week. You can see our previous Guess the Manuscript post here. As ever, please submit your suggestions in the comments field or via Twitter @blmedieval.

Miniature of Jacob's Ladder, before Psalm 80, with a bas-de-page scene of cannibal hybrids, from the Rutland Psalter, England (London?), c. 1260, Add MS 62925, f. 83v

 

'Such a book! my eyes! and I am beating my brains to see if I can find any thread of an intrigue to begin upon, so as to creep and crawl towards possession of it.'

           -  William Morris

Thus spoke William Morris, we are told, when he first laid eyes on the Rutland Psalter in 1896.  Morris was said to be so enamoured of the Psalter that when he was suffering his final illness a friend brought it to his bed-side in order to lift his spirits. We are very pleased that it is no longer necessary to go to such extremes to see this spectacular manuscript; a fully digitized version can be found online here.

The Rutland Psalter (Add MS 62925) is a relatively recent addition to our collections; the manuscript was purchased by the British Library in 1983 from the estate of the ninth Duke of Rutland, whose family had owned the manuscript since at least 1825.  The Psalter was produced c. 1260 in England, possibly in London, although it is unclear who the original patron was.  In the centuries after it was produced, the manuscript passed through quite a few hands before ending up with the Dukes of Rutland.  Many of these people seem to have shared Morris's desire to possess the Psalter, even if only virtually; a vast gallery of signatures and inscriptions can be found on the manuscript's calendar pages and flyleaves (see, for example, f. i, ii and v).

 

Full-page historiated initial 'B'(eatus) at the beginning of Psalm 1, of King David harping, and the Judgement of Solomon, amidst men in combat astride lions and dragons, with roundels containing scenes from Creation and men in combat, with a curtain above, from the Rutland Psalter, England (London?), c. 1260, Add MS 62925, f. 8v

 

It is not hard to see why the Rutland Psalter was an object of such fascination.  It contains a number of spectacular full- and partial-page miniatures (see above), as well as other historiated and illuminated initials.  But the Psalter's true claim to fame is its marginalia. A staggering variety of creatures populate the margins and borders of virtually every folio; amongst the men and women, animals, hybrids, dragons, and vignettes of daily life are scenes influenced by the traditions of the bestiary and the Marvels of the East, and some from sources that still have yet to be traced.  A few of our favourites are below; be sure to check out the entire manuscript here.

 

Bas-de-page scene of a grotesque hybrid and a goat musician, f. 49v

Bas-de-page scene of a man hitting a bear (?) that is eating a human head, f. 51r

Bas-de-page scene of a rabbit musician, f. 54r

Bas-de-page scene of a hybrid musician and a semi-nude man dancing, f. 56v

Bas-de-page scene of a blemmya with a pickaxe, f. 57r

Bas-de-page scene of a female centaur suckling her child, f. 58v

Bas-de-page scene of mice hanging a cat, f. 61r

Bas-de-page scene of a men 'pick-a-back' wrestling, f. 70v

Bas-de-page scene of a conjoined man fighting a dragon, f. 72r

Bas-de-page scene of a man butting his foot against a ram, f. 72v

Bas-de-page scene of a nude man with a stick riding on a many-legged dragon, f. 83r

Bas-de-page scene of a man with an axe and a scold on a ducking stool, f. 86r

Bas-de-page scene of a grotesque hybrid with a panotii (a monstrous race of men with enormous ears), f. 88v

Decorated initial at the beginning of the English Prose Brut Chronicle: 'I n the nobul lande of Surre (Syria) ther was a worthi Kyng…', from The Prose Brut Chronicle of England (common version to 1430), England, 2nd or 3rd quarter of the 15th century, Harley MS 2256, f. 1r

 

In our recent post on the French Prose Brut, we promised a follow-up on the manuscripts of the English version.  There are 38 in the British Library, out of a total of 181 surviving manuscripts listed by the Middle English scholar, Lister M. Matheson of the University of Michigan.  A digital version of Matheson’s comprehensive study, The Prose ‘Brut’, The Development of a Middle English Chronicle is available online on the OpenLibrary website here.

It is not surprising that so many manuscripts survive, as the Brut chronicle was one of the most popular accounts of English history among the lay audience in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period. From the fifteenth century, it has been used as the standard account of English history and was the first chronicle of England to be printed by William Caxton (the Chronicles of England, 1480). In addition to the manuscript copies, there were 13 early printed editions.

 

Decorated initial and border at the beginning of the Brut, with the title 'Here begynnyth the kalendare of Brute in Englysshe tunge', and the introduction: 'Here begynnyth a Booke in Englyssh tung that is called Brute of England which Declarith and tretith of the furste beginning of the lande of Englande. How hit was furst wildernesse and noo thing ther in but wormes and wylde bestes and a cuntre desolate. And afterward how hit was inhabite and by whom and in what manere.' From The Prose Brut (Chronicle of England), England, 2nd or 2rd quarter of the 15th century, Harley MS 24, f. 1r

 

The original Middle English version of the chronicle is based on the Anglo Norman French text, (see French Prose Brut Chronicles in the British Library and How to Find Them) and is believed to have been produced between 1380 and 1400.  Harley MS 3945 contains the earliest version to 1333, known as the common text.  It is a 15th century manuscript and is described in the British Library Search our Catalogue: Archives and Manuscripts.

The Common Text begins with the mythical origins of the English and ending with the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, where the Scots were defeated by the army of Edward III.

 

Historiated initial of Diocletian and his daughters, with the chronicle beginning: 'In the noble land of Syrie th[er] was a noble kyng and mighty and a man of grett reno[u]n that men called Dioclitian'.  The story continues with the 33 daughters of Diocletian, the eldest named Albyne (Albina), who murdered their husbands and were set adrift at sea before they landed on an island, which they named Albion. From the Prose Brut Chronicle of England, England, 2nd or 3rd quarter of the 15th century, Harley MS 1568, f. 1

 

The chronicle was amended and updated during the 14th and 15th centuries, with the first continuation taking it up to the death of Edward III in 1377, an addition associated with the chroniclers of Westminster. One of the British Library manuscripts containing this text to 1377 is Stowe MS 68, which is described with images in the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts here.

 

A champ initial and decorative border marking the familiar opening chapter of the chronicle, from The Brut Chronicle, England, 2nd or 3rd quarter of the 15th century, Stowe MS 68, f. 1

 

The chronicle to 1377 was then updated in some versions to 1419, taking events from the death of Edward III to the siege of Rouen, with the majority ending, 'and manfully countered with our English men'. One of the manuscripts of this version is Harley MS 1568, which contains the picture of Diocletian and his daughters above.  The catalogue entry can be viewed here. 

The continuation to 1419 is found in Harley MS 7333, which is believed to have been copied in the mid-15th century by the amateur scribe John Shirley of Leicester, and which also contains Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, part of Gower’s Confessio Amantis and Lydgate's Life of Saints Edmund and Fremund.

 

A passage from The Canterbury Tales, which follows the Brut Chronicle, England (Leicester), 2nd or 3rd quarter of the 15th century, Harley MS 7333, f. 37r

 

The final extension is to 1461, the accession of Edward IV, found in British Library Additional MS 10099, a paper manuscript of the late 15th century, under the title 'A breve tretise compiled for to bringe the people oute of doute, that han not herd of the Cronycles and of the lineal descensse unto the crownes of Englande, of Fraunce, of Castel Legiouns, and unto the Duchie of Normandie, sith it was first conquest and made'. It also contains Higden's Polychronicon and a text entitled Doctrina Sana (Rules for healthy living). See the catalogue entry online here.

The relationships of the texts and continuations are extremely complicated, and Matheson classified them into  four groups, the Common text, the Extended Version, the Abbreviated version and a looser grouping which he called the Peculiar Version, which includes a translation from the French Brut by John Mandeville (British Library MS Harley 4690 contains this translation).  Records show that they were owned by religious houses, aristocratic families, and merchants, from London to Yorkshire to Wales. 

In the second half of the fifteenth century, the chronicles were spread to an even wider audience as they were used by Jean de Wavrin as the basis of his Recueil des Croniques d’Engleterre  which he composed for the Burgundian court, allies of the English.

 

Miniature of the Siege of Troyes, 1419, from Wavrin's Croniques, Netherlands (Bruges), c. 1470 - c. 1480, Royal MS 14 E IV, f. 57r

 

It's Friday, so let's have some fun. This is one of the British Library's collection items -- can you guess which one? A clue: it can be found on our Digitised Manuscripts site.

And here is the answer: it's the binding of a 15th-century physician's folding almanac, Harley MS 937, which was recently digitised as part of our Harley Science Project.

London, British Library, MS Harley 937, f. 1r.

Thank you to everyone who attempted to identify this item, and especially to @ainoa_castro, @yorkherald and Jen Kubeck for being the first to name it correctly. Doubtless we'll play this game again -- watch this space.

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, @blmedieval.

We're often asked what the Beowulf manuscript contains. Here's a helpful run-down, which explains how the epic poem we know as Beowulf is part of a wider collection, and how that codex was itself bound in the 17th century with an entirely separate medieval volume.

Essentially, all the components of the "Beowulf manuscript" were put together by the Parliamentarian and antiquarian scholar Sir Robert Cotton (d. 1631). Cotton had at his disposal two independent medieval codices: one dating from the very end of the 10th century or beginning of the 11th, and containing the poem Beowulf and other texts; the second dating from the 12th century, and containing Old English versions of Augustine's Soliloquies and the Gospel of Nicodemus. Cotton had these bound together as part of a single volume, christened Cotton MS Vitellius A XV (once the 15th item on shelf A of a press named after the emperor Vitellius). At the front of that volume were added a leaf removed from a 14th century Psalter, a list of contents, and a medieval endleaf (presumably taken from one of the two medieval compilations).

You can see the whole Beowulf manuscript on our Digitised Manuscripts site. But, for ease of reference, here is a full list of the contents, plus images from selected pages.

Psalter leaf (f. 1: now removed to form Royal MS 13 D I*, f. 37, the remains of the Psalter to which it originally belonged)

England, c. 1350-1360

 

Early modern endleaf (f. 2)

England, 1st half of the 17th century

Contains a list of contents in the hand of Richard James (d. 1638)

 

Medieval endleaf (f. 3)

England, 1st half of the 15th century (f. 3r), 2nd half of the 16th century (f. 3v)

Medieval endleaf, containing historical memoranda

 

"The Southwick Codex" (ff. 4-93)

England (provenance Southwick Priory, Hampshire), 2nd half of the 12th century

Augustine of Hippo, Soliloquia (ff. 4r–59v: imperfect)

Gospel of Nicodemus (ff. 60r–86v: imperfect)

Debate of Saturn and Solomon (ff. 86v–93v)

Homily on St Quintin (f. 93v: imperfect)

Augustine of Hippo, Soliloquia (London, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A XV, f. 4r)

Gospel of Nicodemus (London, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A XV, f. 60r)

Debate of Saturn and Solomon (London, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A XV, f. 86v)

Homily on St Quintin (London, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A XV, f. 93v)

 

"The Nowell Codex" (ff. 94-209, named after its former owner, Laurence Nowell, d. c. 1570)

England, last quarter of the 10th century or 1st quarter of the 11th century

Homily on St Christopher (ff. 94r–98r: imperfect)

Marvels of the East (ff. 98v–106v)

Letter of Alexander to Aristotle (ff. 107r–131v)

Beowulf (ff. 132r–201v)

Judith (ff. 202r–209v: imperfect)

Homily on St Christopher (London, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A XV, f. 94r)

Marvels of the East (London, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A XV, f. 98v)

Letter of Alexander to Aristotle (London, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A XV, f. 107r)

Beowulf (London, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A XV, f. 132r)

Judith (London, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A XV, f. 202r)

Folio with a portion of a sample alphabet, England, 1475-1525, British Library Add MS 88887, f. 14r

 

The Macclesfield Alphabet Book is an exquisitely beautiful c. 15th-century 'pattern book'. It contains the most complete set of designs for manuscript decoration known to have survived from late-medieval Britain. It might have been used as a model book for scribes to copy from whilst creating luxury books, or perhaps as a display of an artist's or workshop's skills, to show to potential patrons.  Until a few years ago, its existence was unknown, with the British Library holding the only other known English late medieval pattern book (Sloane MS 1448a, see here for more). Our manuscript, now British Library Additional MS 88887, was in the collection of the Earls of Macclesfield at Shirburn Castle and when it came onto the market in 2009, the Library was able to purchase it using funds raised from benefactors, including the National Heritage Memorial Fund, The Art Fund, and many private individuals.

 

Folio with a sample alphabet, England, 1475-1525, British Library Add MS 88887, f. 26r

 

The manuscript contains a collection of 14 different sets of specimen initials or letters in alphabetical order in the Gothic script of the 15th century, with later additions in the Humanistic script of the early 16th century. The 'ABCs' are wonderfully illustrated, including letters formed using animals and people. Viewing the images online, one cannot help but be captivated by the inventiveness of the artists, and wonder at the work's real purpose, as some of the designs do not seem to have been created for use in real books.

 

Folio with samples of border decoration, England, 1475-1525, British Library Add MS 88887, f. 45r

 

Along with the alphabets there are also included colourful designs for the borders and margins of manuscripts.  Additionally, on f. 9v there is a mysterious drawing of an uprooted tree with a shield inscribed 'R.B.' (see below). An emblem, perhaps a rebus in colours with gold with three flowers and two gold gloves hanging down and the word 'cli[m]i[n]g' or 'ch[ar]i[n]g', is on f. 46r (see below). The full significance of these images is yet to be determined, so if there are any manuscript sleuths out there who have the answer, please send us your ideas!

 

'R.B' emblem, England, 1475-1525, British Library Add MS 88887, f. 9v

 

Detail of a rebus, England, 1475-1525, British Library Add MS 88887, f. 46r

 

- Chantry Westwell

Sometime in the early 13th century, three laywomen, sisters of noble birth, had themselves enclosed for life in a small chamber in a church somewhere not far from Worcester. They were part of a spiritual movement which began with the desert fathers in the 4th century, whereby holy men and women, known as anchorites (or anchoresses), withdrew completely from the world, choosing a life of severity and solitude consisting of a daily ritual of liturgy and prayers. In a macabre ceremony that included the Office of the Dead, various prayers were said as someone was bricked up in a small room within a church, with only a small window to receive the sacrament and a slit affording a view of the altar. A small number of medieval churches survive with these cells or anchorholds intact, like at St James’s church in Shere, Surrey.

Image courtesy of ourfatherplay.com. 

From the 13th to the 15th centuries, there are records of well over 100 people in England applying to their bishop to become anchorites, with the majority being women. However it would seem that withdrawal from the world did not necessarily mean solitude, as anchoresses had servants who brought them food and messages from outside and their advice and prayers were sought by local people, so that some became central figures in their communities.

We know much of this, and particularly about the three anchoresses in question, because in about 1230 a book of instruction was written for them, known as ‘Ancrene Riwle’. It was later adapted for other communities of anchorites under the title ‘Ancrene Wisse’. In all, there are 9 surviving manuscripts of the rule in Middle English, 4 in French and 4 in Latin: 15 in total. The British Library has four of the manuscripts in English, including the earliest copy of the original ‘Ancrene Riwle’ (Cotton Cleopatra C VI), dating from 1225-30, which is nowfavailable in full on our Digitised Manuscripts site.

London, British Library, MS Cotton Cleopatra C VI, f. 4r.

This is a book that has been made for daily use, written in an informal script, probably by a cleric, with decorated initials to make navigation around the text easier. A second scribe has made additions and notes in the margins shortly afterwards, and then much later a third scribe has modernised and annotated the text. It contains guidelines for daily prayers and instructions to the anchoress on how to regulate her senses and her inner life; it deals with sin and confession and finally divine love. Practical issues of clothing, food, keeping pets and employing servants are also covered.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Ancrene Wisse is the language in which it is written, a regional and seemingly archaic brand of English in a form that is standardised across a group of religious texts copied in the same area about 150 years after the Norman Conquest. Very little written English survives from this period, when Latin (and increasingly French) was the language of learning and culture. The vocabulary contains loan words from French (‘par charite’ for through charity) and Norse (‘feolahes’ for companions) and the style is colloquial, but the spelling is closer to the written form of English from before the Conquest. For this reason there have been many studies made by historical linguists and dialectologists of this text, the original and most famous by the distinguished Old English scholar and writer of Lord of the Rings J. R. R. Tolkien, who in 1929 first identified and described the language of the Ancrene Wisse in a Cambridge manuscript (Corpus Christi College MS 402), also from the early 13th century.

London, British Library, MS Cotton Cleopatra C VI, f. 146r.

The British Library has three other manuscripts of the work, two from the same period, 1225-1250, and also in the Cotton collection, one from Worcestershire and one from Cheshire. The second has been adapted and contains pronouns which suggest it may have been for a male audience. Thirdly, a later version attributed to the 15th-century preacher, William Lichfield, is in the Royal collection: Royal MS 8 C I.

Queen Emma and King Cnut at the altar of the New Minster, Winchester, England, 11th century: London, British Library, MS Stowe 944, f. 6r.

Visitors to the British Library at St Pancras can often see a wide range of books and manuscripts in our Treasures Gallery, ranging from Shakespeare to the Beatles. In the exhibition cases devoted to medieval manuscripts you can currently view several of our greatest Anglo-Saxon books, including the New Minster Liber Vitae (see here for a post about the equivalent book from Durham Cathedral) and the foundation charter of the same abbey. You can already see both items (the New Minster Liber Vitae, Stowe MS 944, and the New Minster foundation charter, Cotton MS Vespasian A VIII) on our Digitised Manuscripts site.

The frontispiece of the New Minster charter, England, c. 966: London, British Library, MS Cotton Vespasian A VIII, f. 2v.

Meanwhile, currently on display in the exhibition cases devoted to medieval literature is the unique manuscript of Beowulf. Made around the year AD 1000, this manuscript contains not only the sole surviving copy of Beowulf, the longest epic poem in the Old English language, but also the texts of Judith, the Marvels of the East, and the letter of Alexander to Aristotle.

A typical page from the Beowulf manuscript, England, c. 1000, which was damaged by fire in 1731: London, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A XV, f. 176r.

The Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library, is open 7 days a week, and is free to visit. We regret that on occasion items have to be removed temporarily for use in our Reading Rooms; and we also operate a rotation policy, because many of the oldest and most fragile items in our collections cannot be kept on display for indefinite periods.

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, @blmedieval