Facsimiles of Medieval Manuscripts and Incunabula

London, British Library, Cotton MS Vitellius A. XV

Beowulf is the longest epic poem written in Old English. It is set in 6th century Scandinavia, but was likely passed down orally over many generations. The poem tells the heroic journey of Beowulf, a prince who battles Grendel, his mother, and a gold-hoarding dragon.

Black and White Facsimile with Interspersed Transcriptions

Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS Esp. 12

The Cantar de Mio Cid is the oldest known surviving epic poem from medieval Castile. It is semi-historical, and recounts parts of the Reconquista through the hero, El Cid, which is an honorific title similar to “sir”.

Black and White Facsimile

San Marino, Huntington Library, MS EL 26 C9

Unlike contemporary French or Italian romances, the extant medieval manuscripts of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales were not lavishly illustrated. Only the Ellesmere Chaucer contains marginal illustrations which depict the twenty-three pilgrims described in the text.

Black and White and Some Color Facsimile

London, British Library, MS Harley 2253

Black and White Facsimile

Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Mss. 652

The Liber de Laudibus Sanctae Crucis are pictorial religious poems in the form of “figure poems,” where the creation of visual images are an important part of the genre. The manuscript is a notable work of Carolingian book painting.

High Quality Color Facsimile

London, British Library, MS Harley 2278

The Life of St. Edmund tells the story East Anglian King, Edmund, who was killed by the invading Danes in the late 9th century. Edmund was considered a martyr and model king. The poem about St. Edmund was written by John Lydgate, a monk from Suffolk England.

High Quality Color Facsimile with English Introduction

Donaueschingen, Fürstlich Fürstenbergische Hofbibliothek, Mss. 63

Considered one of the greatest German medieval poems, Nibelungenlied was originally written somewhere between 1180 and 1210. The poem tells the story of Siegfried’s murder by King Gunther’s wife, Brunhild, and his widow’s failed attempt at revenge that ultimately ends in a massacre in which everyone dies.

High Quality Color Facsimile with German Commentary

Private Collection

Thought to be the earliest Book of Hours produced in Italy. The Officiolum di Francesco da Barberino is a canonical prayer book featuring 70 illuminated folios.

Italian Commentary

Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, MS Cod. Pal. Germ. 112

The Song of Roland is the oldest surviving major work of French Literature. It recounts the Battle of Roncevaux in 778 where Roland, Charlemagne’s nephew, battles Muslim forces in Spain.

High Quality Color Facsimile with German Commentary

Rome, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Urb. Lat. 376

The Romance of the Rose is a medieval French poem in the genre of courtly love or chivalric literature. The poem was written in two parts by Guillaume de Lorris (circa 1230) and Jean de Meun (circa 1275).

High Quality Color Facsimile with German Commentary

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, MS Latinus fol. 416 d, and Vatican City, Biblioteca Apolica Vaticana, MS lat. 3256

The Vergilius Augusteus is a late antique manuscript containing works by Virgil, including Georgics and the Aeneid. Only seven leaves of the manuscript have survived. The pages are not illustrated but do contain the earliest known instances of decorated initials. Unlike later illuminated initials, the letters here do not mark the division of a new text.

High Quality Color Facsimile with German and English introduction

Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex Vindobonensis 2670

Willehalm is a 13th-century German chanson de geste poem by Wolfram von Eschenbach. In the poem Willehalm wooed, converted, and married a Spanish, Muslim princess. Her father, former husband, and their armies invaded france to bring her back, but were defeated in a subsequent battle by Willehalm. It is based on French, chivalric romances.

High Quality Color Facsimile with German Commentary

London, British Library, MS Add. 59678

The Winchester Malory is a manuscript of Sir Thomas Malory’s romance Le Morte d’Arthur. He composed the poem based on existing tales while he was in Newgate Prison. The later Caxton printing of Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur differs from the manuscript.

Black and White Facsimile

Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Cod. F. 205 P. inf.

The Ambrosian Iliad is the only surviving illustrated copy of Homer from antiquity. The miniatures have been individually cut out, so the surviving portion of the manuscript does not contain the text column.

High Quality Color Facsimile with multilingual introduction

Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, MS fran. 2810

The Livre des Merveilles, also known as the Travels of Marco Polo, is a 13th-century travel account written in Old French. The manuscript was written by Rustichello da Pisa, apparently based on the stories he heard from Marco Polo while in a Genoese jail.

Black and White Unbound Plates

High Quality Color English Interspersed Transcription

Les Miracles de Nostre Dame is a French manuscript of poems written by Gautier de Coincy, prior of Vic-sur-Aisne. The lighthearted poems are set to popular medieval music and praise the Virgin.

Black and White Facsimile with French Commentary

London, British Library, Add. Ms. 24189

The Travels of Sir John Mandeville are a fictional account of Mandeville’s exploration to the far east. The romance was written in the vernacular french in order to reach as many readers as possible. The fact that numerous illuminated copies survive from the Middle Ages indicates the popularity and wide reach of the work.

High Quality Color Partial Facsimile with English Introduction and Interspersed Transcription

No shelfmark.

The Hortus Deliciarum is an illuminated encyclopedia and teaching tool made for novices at the Hohenburg Abbey convent in 1167-85. The manuscript contained compiled texts from various writers, original poetry by Herrad of Landsberg, and 336 miniatures. The original manuscript was burned and destroyed in 1870 but numerous copies remain.

High Quality Color Unbound Plates with French Commentary

London, British Library, Add. MS 74236

The Sherborne Missal is a clerical illuminated manuscript that contains the text and music for the Mass. It was made for St. Mary’s Abbey at Sherborne in the years surrounding the turn of the 15th century. It is unique in its lavishness, pictorial themes, and innovative subjects.

High Quality Color Partial Facsimile

New York, the Morgan Library, MS M.766

The Speculum Hamanae Salvationis is a popular theology manuscript that explains the typological relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

High Quality Color Facsimile with German Commentary