List of manuscripts in the Cotton library

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This is a list of all manuscripts in the Cotton library, part of the collections of the British Library. It is currently incomplete.

Robert Bruce Cotton organized his library by placing busts of various Roman emperors and ladies over each of his book cabinets. The shelf of each cabinet had a letter assigned to it. Manuscripts were identified by the bust over the cabinet, the shelf letter, followed by its number (in Roman numerals) from the left side of the shelf. Thus, The Lindisfarne Gospels, Nero B IV, was the fourth manuscript from the left on the second shelf (shelf B) of the cabinet under the bust of Nero. A few of the cabinets had only one shelf so that the shelf letter was left out of the shelfmark. The British Museum retained Cotton's organization when the Cotton collection became one of the foundational collections of its library.

The physical arrangement of Cotton's Library continues to be reflected in citations to manuscripts once in his possession. His library was housed in a room 26 feet (7.9 m) long by six feet wide filled with bookpresses, each with the bust of a figure from classical antiquity on top. Counterclockwise, these are catalogued as Julius (i.e., Julius Caesar), Augustus, Cleopatra, Faustina, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. (Domitian had only one shelf, perhaps because it was over the door.) Manuscripts are now designated by library, bookpress, and number: for example, the manuscript of Beowulf is designated Cotton Vitellius A.xv, and the manuscript of Pearl is Cotton Nero A.x.

Contents

Augustus

i Two large portfolios containing a collection of 16th century maps, charts and plans of towns, buildings, fortifications and related items. Some of the items are plans for projects that were never completed.
ii A portfolio containing a large collection of mostly Anglo-Saxon charters, also contains a few later medieval charters, Papal Bulls, and some other items. Includes: Item 3 The Ismere Diploma; Item 106 Magna Carta: Exemplification of 1215
iii A portfolio containing a miscellaneous collection of drawings and prints, many of them military in nature.
iv Troy Book by John Lydgate, edition of 1555 with some variations. According to heraldic evidence the manuscript was created between 1411 and 1458, probably during Lydgate's lifetime.
v Le Tresor des Histoires. Universal history, from the Creation to Pope Clement VI (died 1342). 15th century copy, lavishly illuminated.
vi Le livre des proprietés des choses, translated from Latin to French by Jehan Corbechon under the patronage of Charles V of France. 14th century, illuminated.

Caligula

A.ii Fos. 3–5, A Pistil of Susan (fragment), probably by Huchoun; fos. 5–13, Sir Eglamour of Artois; fos. 22–35, Octavian; fos. 35–42, Sir Launfal; fos. 42–57, Lybeaus Desconus; fos. 71–6, Emaré; fos. 130–4, Sir Isumbras.[1]
A.vi Heliand
A.viii Miscellany
A.ix. The Owl and the Nightingale; Layamon, Brut
A.xiv Caligula Troper
A.xv (1) fos. 3-117, 8th and 9th-century material from France, which had arrived in England by the 9th or 10th century

(2) fos. 120-53, once part of BL Egerton 3314, belonging to the 11th century. It consists of two parts:
fos. 120-41, part A, computistical texts; annals of Christ Church, Canterbury; Old English and Latin prognostications and charms
fos. 142-53, excerpts from Bede, De temporibus anni, with additional notes.[2]
C.i Correspondence on relations between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots
C.vi Correspondence of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, with the court of Henry VIII

Claudius

A.iii Volume of liturgical fragments
B.iv Illustrated Old English Hexateuch
B.v Acts of the Council of Constantinople
B.vi Cotton Genesis (fragmentary)
B.vii Manuscript assembled (from earlier materials) for Archbishop Matthew Parker (d. 1575). Its contents include (1) legal proceedings; (2) Roger of Howden, Chronicle, (3) Pseudo-Turpin, De gestis Karoli magni; 'Prester John', Epistola ad Manuelem imperatorem, etc.; (4) extracts made in the time of Matthew Parker; (5) Pseudo-Dares Phrygius, De excidio Troie historia; Geoffrey of Monmouth, Prophetiae Merlini; (6) legal proceedings.[3]
D.iv fos 48-54 De Iniusta Vexacione Willelmi Episcopi Primi (missing introduction and parts of the conclusion)
E.viii Adamus Murimuthensis, Chronicon Sui Temporis

Cleopatra

A.ii Life of St Modwenna
A.iii The Old English 'Cleopatra Glossaries'
A.xvi Adamus Murimuthensis, Chronicon Sui Temporis
B.iii Ailred of Rievaulx, Historia Angliae
B.ix Miscellany
B.xiii Miscellany (Homilies etc.)
C.viii Prudentius, Conflict Of The Soul
D.i Miscellany, including (1) Vitruvius, De architectura; (2) Vegetius, De Re Militari
E.vi Miscellany, including Sir Thomas More's letter to Henry VIII before execution (ff. 176v - 177)

Domitian

i Miscellany, includes works by Isidore of Seville, Bede, and Gerald of Wales
vii Durham Liber Vitae
viii Collection of chronicles. Includes:
Item III (ff. 30-70) Bilingual Canterbury Epitome (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle F)
ix fragment of the Bilingual Canterbury Epitome (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle H), futhorc row

Faustina

A.iii Cartulary of the Abbey of St Peter, Westminster
A.v Miscellany, separated by Henry Savile the Elder from Dublin, Trinity College 114. It includes the following items:

fos. 25r-97r. Symeon of Durham, Liber de exordio atque procursu Dunelmensis ecclesiae, including Bede's Death Song
fos. 99r-99v, Pseudo-Bede, De Quindecim Signis
fos. 99v-102r, Pseudo-Augustine, De Antichristo quomodo et ubi nasci debeat[4]
A.viii Abbreviatio de Gestis Normannorum ad Gulielmum I Regem Angliae
A.x Additional Glosses to the Glossary in Ælfric's Grammar
B.iii Life of Saint Edith in Middle English Verse
B.viii Register of Chapel of St Stephen, Westminster
B.ix Chronicle of Melrose
D.i Statutes of the Order of the Garter, revised under Edward VI

Galba

A.v Irish Psalter
A.xviii Athelstan Psalter

Julius

A.x Old English Martyrology
A.xi William Fitz Stephen's Life of St Thomas Becket
A.xvi Ailred of Rievaulx, De Gestis Davidis Regis Scottorum
B.xiii Miscellany, including Item 1: Hugh of Saint-Victor's Chronicle from Deeping Priory
C.xii Ailred of Rievaulx, De Regibus Saxorum
E.iv "Beauchamp Pageants", c. 1484–90
E.vii Ælfric's Lives of Saints
E.viii Lydgate, 'Kings of England sithen William Conqueror', The Three Kings of Cologne, Brut Chronicle.
F.vi Charges brought against Cardinal Wolsey, 1529

Nero

A.ii Anglo-Saxon Prayerbook
A.v Computus of Philippe de Thaon
A.x Pearl, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Patience, and Cleanness
A.xi (1) Carta caritatis posterior (13th century), (2) Pseudo-Turpin, De gestis Karoli magni; De miraculis apostoli Iacobi, (3) Orderic Vitalis and Gesta Normannorum ducum, (4) excerpts from Pseudo-Jerome, De essentia diuinitatis, (5) Jerome, Aduersus Iouinianum.[5]
B.i Royal diplomatic correspondence concerning Portugal
B.viii Royal diplomatic correspondence concerning Russia
B.xi Royal diplomatic correspondence concerning Russia
C.iv Winchester Psalter
C.v Marianus Scotus, Chronicle; Bartholomew Cotton, Historia Anglicana
C.vii Miscellany
C.ix Miscellany
C.x • Item 1 Autograph diary of Edward VI
• Item 2 Letters of Edward VI to Henry VIII and Katherine Parr
C.xi Robert Fabyan, Chronicle of England and France
D.i Matthew of Paris, Liber additamentorum
D.ii Order of Ceremony for the Knights of the Bath
D.iv Lindisfarne Gospels
D.x Adamus Murimuthensis, Chronicon Sui Temporis
E.i Miscellany in two parts.

(1) The first and earliest part is the Cotton-Corpus Legendary, a Worcester manuscript (1050 x 1075) which includes Byrhtferth's Life of Oswald, his Life of Ecgwine and Lantfred of Winchester's Translatio et Miracula S. Swithuni.
(2) In the second part, various texts with dates ranging between the 10th and 13th century are bound together. These include the Oswald Cartulary and IV Edgar (a law-code belonging to King Edgar, r. 959-975).[6] Folios 182 and 183 of Cotton Nero E.i, pt.2 (Worcester cartulary), are now bound separately as London, BL, MS. Add. 46204.[7]

Otho

A.x Æthelweard, Chronicon de Rebus Anglicis
A.xii The Battle of Maldon (destroyed in 1731)
B.x Mary of Egypt (fragmentary)
B.x.165 Old English Rune poem (destroyed in 1731)
B.xi.2 fragment of the Parker Chronicle (the Winchester Chronicle)
C.i Volume containing fragments of the four Gospels, Dialogues of Gregory the Great, Ælfric's De creatore et creatura and other pieces in Old English.
C.ii Adamus Murimuthensis, Chronicon Sui Temporis
C.v Otho-Corpus Gospels (fragmentary)
C.ix Letters of the Grand Masters of Rhodes to Henry VIII
C.xi Layamon, Brut
E.i Latin-Old English Glossary
E.iv Letters of Intelligence from Paris to the Court of Elizabeth I
E.xiii Legal Miscellany

Tiberius

A.ii Ottonian Gospels, donated to King Athelstan and by Athelstan to Christ Church, Canterbury.
A.iii Miscellany. Includes:
f. 3-27. Regularis Concordia (Item 1)
Rule of St. Benedict (Item 43)
f. 55–6v, 94v–7. Late Old English Handbook for a Confessor.[8]
A.vi Abingdon Chronicle I (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle B)
A.ix Abbreviatio de Gestis Normannorum ad Gulielmum I Regem Angliae
A.xiii Worcester cartularies, including Hemming's Cartulary by Hemming
A.xiv Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica
A.xv Canterbury Letterbook, collection of letters
B.i Abingdon Chronicle II (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle C). Singed by the 1731 fire.
B.ii Miscellany, including Miracles of St Edmund, in verse
B.iv Collection of Chronicles, Histories and related material. Includes:

Item 1 - Worcester Chronicle (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle D)
B.v Scientific Miscellany
B.viii The Coronation Book of Charles V of France
C.i Miscellany.
C.ii Bede, Ecclesiastical History
C.vi Tiberius Psalter
C.ix Historia Vitae et Regni Ricardi Secundi from Evesham Abbey
D.iii includes Vita Sancti Niniani
D.iv (part ii) Formerly part of Winchester, Cathedral Library I; includes Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica; De abbatibus (ff. 158v-66r)
E.x "History of Richard III". Damaged in 1731 fire.

Titus

A.xix Ailred of Rievaulx, De Gestis Davidis Regis Scottorum
A.xv & A.xvi John Joscelyn, an Old English-Latin dictionary
B.i Order for the tournament on the Field of the Cloth of Gold, France, 1520
B.ii Horoscope of Elizabeth I
B.viii Sir Walter Ralegh's autograph journal of his second voyage to Guiana, 1617–18
C.xvi The Travels of Sir John Mandeville
D.iv Latin Epigrams of Sir Thomas More, on the coronation of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, 1509
D.xxvi Ælfwine's Prayerbook

Vespasian

A.i Vespasian Psalter
A.viii New Minster Reformation Charter
A.xv Vocabularium Cornicum
A.xviii Ailred of Rievaulx, De Gestis Davidis Regis Scottorum
A.xix Miscellany
B.ix History of the foundation of the hospital and priory of St Bartholomew, Smithfield
B.xi Chronicle of Hagnaby Abbey
B.xx Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, Lives of the Canterbury saints
C.i Correspondence of the Spanish royal court with the court of Henry VIII
D.vi Miscellany
D.xii Latin Hymnal with Old English gloss
D.xiv Miscellany of the mid-12th century. It has most of Ælfric's Catholic Homilies (first and second series) and cites from Ælfric's letters to Sigeferth and Wulfstan. Other works include a Life of Saint Neot; homily on the Phoenix; Old English Dicts of Cato; prognostications; the Vision of St Furseus; translations of Ralph d'Escures' homily on Mary; and excerpts from Honorius Augustodunensis, Elucidarium.[9]
D.xix (1) Nigel Witeker, Miracula sancte Dei genitricis uirginis Marie and other poems; (2) Ely Chronicle (12th century); (3) Easter-table chronicle; (4) Hildebert of Le Mans, certain letters and sermons.[10]
E.iv Miscellany

Vitellius

A.viii Annals of Lacock Abbey
A.x Statutes of Lichfield Cathedral
A.xii Penitential of Bartholomew, Bishop of Exeter
A.xiii Genealogy of the Dukes of Normandy
A.xv Nowell Codex (Beowulf, Judith)
A.xx Descriptio Constantinopolis
B.ii Diplomatic letters to Henry VIII. Singed by fire.
B.iv Bull of Pope Leo X, 1521, granting Henry VIII the title "Defender of the Faith". Badly damaged by fire, 1731
B.v Letters of Pope Adrian VI to Henry VIII
B.viii Letters of Pope Clement VII to Henry VIII
C. iii Anglo-Saxon Herbal
C.viii Miscellany, including Epistles of St. Paul from Durham
C.xi Treaty of Marriage between Louis XII of France and Mary Tudor
C.xii Miscellany
C.xvii The Manner of Sir Philip Sidney's Death
E.ii Grandes Chroniques de France
E.vii Giraldus Cambrensis, Life and Miracles of St Æthelberht
E.XVIII Psalter with interlinear Old English Gloss
F.xi Vitellius Psalter (Irish)

Septuaginta

Notes

  1. ^ Mills, M (Ed). 1969. Lybeaus Desconus. Oxford University Press for the Early English Text Society. 302 pp. Middle English romances in British Library MS Cotton Caligula A.ii, p 1.
  2. ^ Takako Kato. "London, British Library, Cotton Caligula A. xv". The Production and Use of English Manuscripts 1060 to 1220. University of Leicester. http://www.le.ac.uk/ee/em1060to1220/mss/BL.Cali.A.xv.htm. 
  3. ^ "London, British Library, MS. Cotton Claudius B. VII". The British Library Manuscripts Catalogue. British Library. http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/manuscripts/HITS0001.ASP?VPath=html/73732.htm&Search=Cott.+Claud.+B.+Vii.&Highlight=F. Retrieved 20 may 2010. 
  4. ^ Takako Kato. "London, British Library, Cotton Faustina A. v + Dublin Trinity College 114 (A. 5. 2)". The Production and Use of English Manuscripts 1060 to 1220. University of Leicester. http://www.le.ac.uk/ee/em1060to1220/mss/BL.Faus.A.v.htm. 
  5. ^ "London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero A.XI". The British Library Manuscripts Catalogue. British Library. http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/manuscripts/HITS0001.ASP?VPath=html/73747.htm&Search=Cott.%20Nero%20A%20XI&Highlight=T. Retrieved 20 May 2010. 
  6. ^ "London, British Library, MS. Cotton Nero E. I". The British Library Manuscripts Catalogue. British Library. http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/manuscripts/HITS0001.ASP?VPath=html/73750.htm&Search=Cott.+Nero+E.i.&Highlight=F. Retrieved 20 May 2010. 
  7. ^ "Portal to manuscript descriptions: list of manuscripts". The Production and Use of English Manuscripts 1060 to 1220. University of Leicester. http://www.le.ac.uk/ee/em1060to1220/catalogue/mssportal.htm. 
  8. ^ Fowler, Roger (ed.). "A Late Old English Handbook for the Use of a Confessor." Anglia 83.1 (1965): 1-34.
  9. ^ Elaine Treharne. "London, British Library, Cotton Vespasian D. xiv". The Production and Use of English Manuscripts 1060 to 1220. University of Leicester. http://www.le.ac.uk/ee/em1060to1220/mss/BL.Vesp.D.xiv.htm. 
  10. ^ "London, British Library, MS. Cotton Vespasian D XIX". The British Library Manuscripts Catalogue. British Library. http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/manuscripts/HITS0001.ASP?VPath=html/73769.htm&Search=Cott.+Vesp.+D.+xix.&Highlight=F. Retrieved 20 May 2010. 

References

Further reading