Manuscripts In The Library Of Pembroke College Cambridge And The Fitzwilliam Museum

`The Index of Middle English Prose when completed will be a monumental achievement' REVIEW OF ENGLISH STUDIES Two very different collections are surveyed in this volume. The manuscripts of Pembroke College, Cambridge are typical of a medieval foundation. Its core of books is a working library of that period, representing the interests andneeds of its Fellows, very often given or bequeathed by them to the College. The collection was substantially enlarged in 1599 through the gift by William Smart of Ipswich of a large number of manuscripts which until the Reformation had belonged to the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds. By contrast the emphasis of the Fitzwilliam Museum collection is to a great extent art historical. At its heart are the manuscripts bequeathed by Lord Fitzwilliam in 1816. These were supplemented throughout the 19th century by a series of gifts and bequests, culminating in 1904 in the largest bequest to date, from Frank McClean, of some 203 manuscripts. In spite of the different character of the two collections, both contain a range of Middle English prose items, among them Chaucer's Boece, a complete Wycliffite sermon cycle and several Paston letters [all from Pembroke], the Anlaby Cartulary, the "Canutus" pestilence tract, the Brut, Lydgate's Serpent of Division and Nicholas Love's Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ (from the Fitzwilliam). KARI ANNE RAND is Professor of Older English Literature at the University of Oslo.

M. R. James (1862-1936) is probably best remembered as a writer of chilling ghost stories, but he was an outstanding scholar of medieval literature and palaeography, who served both as Provost of King's College, Cambridge, and as Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, and many of his stories reflect his academic background. His detailed descriptive catalogues of manuscripts owned by colleges, cathedrals and museums are still of value to scholars today. James' catalogue of the manuscript holdings of Pembroke College was first published in 1905. Now reissued, it will be welcomed by librarians and researchers alike.

M. R. James (1862-1936) is probably best remembered as a writer of chilling ghost stories, but he was an outstanding scholar of medieval literature and palaeography, who served both as Provost of King's College, Cambridge, and as Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, and many of his stories reflect his academic background. His detailed descriptive catalogues of manuscripts owned by colleges, cathedrals and museums are still of value to scholars today. James' catalogue of the manuscript holdings of Pembroke College was first published in 1905. Now reissued, it will be welcomed by librarians and researchers alike.

Handlist to the rich collection of manuscripts contained in five major libraries across New York, giving a full account of their provenance. This volume provides detailed descriptions of Middle English prose materials found in the Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscripts Library, The Pierpont Morgan Library, The New York Public Library, The New York Academy of Medicine Library, and New York University Bobst Library (Special Collections). The manuscripts tend to be less well known than those in English libraries, with overlooked texts such as the Pseudo-Hildegard Anti-Mendicant Prophecy; The Book of Palmistry; a subject index of legal statutes; culinary and medical recipes; and English instructions to Latin prayers in Books of Hours. Other manuscripts of note include Trevisa's translation of De proprietatibus rerum by Bartholomaeus Anglicus, used as a copy-text for Wynkyn de Worde's first edition printed ca. 1495; and deluxe illustrated manuscripts of The Pilgrimage of the Soul and Ordinances of Chivalry. The introduction to the volume highlights the particular interests of the various collectors and the influences and characteristics underpinning their acquisitions. All but one of the manuscripts described from Columbia University were acquired by George A. Plimpton (1855-1936), whose firm, Ginn and Co., published spelling books. His collection records an interest in the history of education, with MS 258, a primer probably compiled for an English schoolchild, being a highlight. John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) specialized in expensive, illustrated manuscripts, aided in his purchases by Belle da Costa Greene, who became the first director of the Morgan Library as a public institution under J.P. Morgan, Jr. Curt F. Bühler became the Keeper of Printed Books at the Morgan in 1934, bequeathing to the Library the manuscripts that he had bought over the years. James Lenox and John Jacob Astor established the New York Public Library, with Lenox donating two Wycliffite Bibles and Astor a third. The New York Academy of Medicine owns two manuscripts relating to the work of the French surgeon Guy de Chauliac.

Chaucer, Gower and Langland -- Lyrics and romances -- Devotional writings -- Owners and users of medieval books -- A tribute to Professor Takamiya