Jean Creton, Histoire rimée de Richard II (La Prinse et mort du roy Richart)
Scope & Content:
La Prinse et mort du roy Richart (Book of the Capture and Death of King Richard II) also known as La Prinse et mort du roy Richart (the Capture and Death of king Richard), the Account of the Fall of Richard II, or the Chronicle of Jean Creton), composed by Jean Creton (fl. 1386–1420), historian ...
The Polychronicon by Ranulf Higden, with a continuation to the death of Edward III (1377)
Scope & Content:
The Polychronicon by Ranulf Higden (d. 1364), with a continuation to the death of Edward III in 1377. Incipit: 'Post preclaros arcium scriptores quibus circa rerum noticiam ac morum modestiam dulce fuit'. Explicit: 'Explicit liber Septimus historie policronice'. An edition of the chronicle can b...
Chansons from the cycles of William of Orange and Aimeri de Narbonne
Scope & Content:
Contents: Chansons de Geste from the cycles of William of Orange (Guillaume d'Orange): and Aimeri de Narbonne (Aymeri de Nerbonne) ff. 4r-38v: Bertrand de Bar-sur-Aube, Girart de Vienne (Girard de Viane), 5,560 lines, lacking 1 leaf at the beginning that perhaps contained a miniature; ff. 3...
Aristotle, Ethica (Nicomachean Ethics), in the Latin translation by Leonardo Bruni of Arezzo (Leonardo Aretino), with the translator's preface (ff. 1r-4r), rubric (preface): 'Leonhardi Aretini prefacio in conversione librorum moralium Aristotilis summum phylosoph [erased] etc.', incipit: 'Aristo...
Political tracts including speeches of King James, copies of Elizabethan letters, and documents related to the Spanish match
Scope & Content:
Composite volume of political tracts in different hands. Contents: ff. 1-12: King James’s speeches on the state of the kingdom, supply in warfare and the defence of the kingdom, etc. Declaration of the Lords and Commons delivered to the King by the Archbishop of Canterbury, 13 March 1633, on ...
Thomas Hobbes, The Elements of Law, Natural and Politic
Scope & Content:
The Elements of Law, a treatise on political theory and the origins of the state, was completed by Thomas Hobbes on 9 May 1640 (see f. 2v), dedicated to William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, and distributed in manuscript copies produced by professional scribes. Contents: f. 1: Title page ...
Survey of castles and fortifications on the Thames, Medway, and south coast of England, with a survey of the Tower of London
Scope & Content:
A survey of the castles and forts on the banks of the Thomas and Medway, and along the south coast from Kent to Cornwall, carried out 1 August – 14 October 1623. With a survey of the Tower of London and its stores, December 1623. Contents: f. 1*: Part of original parchment cover with barely...
State letters, tracts, speeches, etc. largely in the hand of Walter Bilmor (or Belmore), steward to Dame Jacoba Van Loor, widow of Peter Van Loor. Includes copies of petitions to the King, parliamentary speeches, biographical notes and speeches etc. Contents: f. 1: Notes, including a copy of J...