Facsimiles of Medieval Manuscripts and Incunabula in the Libraries of Florida State University
Introduction
This working list of facsimiles available in the FSU libraries is intended for faculty and graduate students interested in studying medieval manuscripts and early printed books.
The list is organized in three sections, accessed by the links below:
- Alphabetical - The first section includes manuscripts organized alphabetically either by their commonly known name (e.g., Hengwrt Chaucer or Lindisfarne Gospels) or by the title of the facsimile publication (e.g., Apocalypse of 1313 or Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional MS 20486.) Editor names, publication information, and call numbers are also provided, along with the location of the original.
- By Location - The second section takes the information provided by the alphabetical list and organizes the facsimiles by the present location of the original manuscript, listing each by city, repository, and shelf-mark (e.g., New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.644).
- By Type - The third section then categorizes the facsimiles by twelve manuscript types, concluding with incunabula, block books, and other early printed books. The manuscript types are determined usually by textual contents: Apocalypses, i.e., manuscripts of the Book of Revelation; Books of Hours and other devotional texts; Bibles and biblical books other than Apocalypses, Gospels, and Psalters; Hebrew texts; Gospel books; Literature and Drama manuscripts; Liturgical and other service books, such as antiphonaries and missals; Miscellaneous Secular texts, such as chronicles, legal texts, and maps; Miscellaneous Religious texts, such as didactic texts, saints' lives, and sermons; Music manuscripts; Psalters; and Science and Medical texts. Because this classification is necessarily arbitrary, some facsimiles are listed in more than one category.
The term 'facsimile' is used loosely. Many of these publications are genuine facsimiles and thus reproduce the original in exact detail, but others reproduce only parts of the manuscript (usually just the illustrated folios) or print the originals only in black-and-white. Earlier facsimiles tend to mix commentary and plates or are selective in what they reproduce (e.g., marginalia may be ignored), but these 'near facsimiles' are included because they usually are the best publication available for studying a near-complete specific manuscript (some of which, like the Hortus deliciarum, are no longer extant). The list does not include numerous scholarly studies of these and other manuscripts, because - although sometimes lavishly illustrated - their goal is to make a scholarly argument rather than reproduce a manuscript. It should be noted, however, that some recent studies contain high-quality color plates that may be better than the black-and-white images of earlier facsimiles.
I would like to thank everyone who helped with this project, especially two art history graduate research assistants: Alison Moore, who got it underway, and Keri Fredericks, who brought it to completion. I also appreciate the help and support of the staff of Special Collections, especially Denise Giannino and Lucy Patrick.
This list is a work in progress. Please notify me of errors to be corrected or of works that should be added.
Richard K. Emmerson
August 27, 2007