Breviary (the 'Breviary of Margaret of York'), fragment
Scope & Content:
A leaf from the Breviary of Margaret of York, duchess of Burgundy (now Cambridge, St John's College, ms H. 13), used as a frontispiece. The original border includes an image of King David praying, painted by the Vienna Master of Mary of Burgundy, the coat of arms of Margaret of York impaling tho...
The four Gospels ('Athelstan' or 'Coronation' Gospels)
Scope & Content:
The four Gospels with prefatory texts. The detailed contents are as follows: 1. Jerome, Epistula ad Damasum (ff. 3r-5v); 2. Prologue to the Gospels (ff. 5v-8r); 3. Letter from Eusebius to Carpianus (ff. 8r-9r); 4. Jerome, Epistula ad Damasum, II (ff. 9r-9v); 5. Argumentum Evangelii secundum...
This folio is a former pastedown from the binding, containing a fragment of a metrical translation of the work of Henry of Saltrey, St Patrick's Purgatory, in French, from the 13th century.
Psalter ('The Shaftesbury Psalter') with calendar and prayers
Scope & Content:
Contents include: f. 2r: Ownership inscriptions. ff. 2v-8v: Calendar, with illuminated roundels of the signs of the zodiac and labours of the month. ff. 9r: Table for calculating the celebration of Easter within a nineteen-year cycle, said to have been communicated by an angel to St Pachomius...
Cycle of 223 tinted drawings, mostly two per page, illustrating Old Testament scenes from the Fall of Lucifer and the Creation to the Death of Solomon, with accompanying Anglo-Norman explanatory verses. Beginning, 'Coment lucifer chayit de ciel e devient diable e grant multitudo des angeles oues...
Four full-page miniatures, some with Anglo-Norman captions and explanatory text. Each prophet (ff. 69v-70r) carries a scroll inscribed with verses (not always correctly assigned); each Apostle (ff. 69v-70r) carries a scroll inscribed with sections of the Creed. Decoration: f. 67v: Miniature of...
Calendar, with each month occupying two pages, and accompanying miniatures of the signs of the Zodiac and labours of the month. Notable saints in the calendar include: 19 January: St Wulfstan. 2 March: St Cedda. 18 March: Edward the Confessor. 20 March: St Cuthbert. 3 April: St Richard. 19...
Psalter, illustrated with miniatures of the Life of Christ, and bas-de-page scenes with images from the bestiary, legends of saints, and other sources (including hunting scenes). Descriptions: f. 84r: Inscription by Henry Manners, 2nd earl of Rutland (1526 - 1563), courtier and soldier, arrest...
Canticles, with scenes from the Passion of Christ and other miniatures. Decoration: f. 280v: Miniature of four scenes of the Resurrection in quatrefoils, with: (top left) Christ lying in the uncovered sepulchre, with soldiers apparently repulsing a disciple (perhaps Joseph of Arimathaea); (top...