Manuscripts

The manuscripts were catalogued first at the end of Volume 2 (pp. 997-9) of Thomas Hartwell Horne's Catalogue of the Library of St. Margaret and St. Bernard, commonly called Queens' College in the University of Cambridge (London, 1827). The early Western Manuscripts were subsequently also described in M.R. James, A descriptive catalogue of the Western manuscripts in the library of Queen's college, Cambridge (Cambridge, 1905).

Recent Developments

Pacino di Bonaguida During research in early 2007, three illuminated manuscript miniatures were identified as the work of the eminent 14th-century Florentine artist, Pacino di Bonaguida. The story of their discovery is described in an article, by Karen Begg, on the Cambridge Centre for Material Texts website, and a full description of the miniatures can be found in an article by Dr Stella Panayotova in Queens College Record (2009).

Queens' College manuscript collection comprises c. 30 Western medieval manuscripts, 4 in 12th century bindings, 13 Islamic manuscripts, and many 17th-century commonplace books. Highlights include a gloss on the Psalms (MSS 18,19) dating from the 12th century, bound in contemporary sealskin, and a rare early 15th-century copy of Wycliffe’s treatise, De veritate sanctae scripturae (MS 27).