• Decorated initial with reserved designs and pen-flourishing., Missal

in black ink.Marginal annotations. 1 full-page miniature in colours and gold of the Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary and John the Evangelist, with a full border inhabited by birds and flowers, and, in the lower margin, a jewelled cross in

• Initial 'L'(ignis) with pen-flourished decoration at the beginning of Sermon 17., Gilbert's Sermons (index Liber sermonum giliberti cantica canticorum Solomonis), imperfect at the beginning (ff. 1-61v), and Bernard's Prayer to the Virgin (index Oratio Beati Bernardi abbatis ad Beatam Virginem) (ff. 62r-v)

the beginning (ff. 1-61v), and Bernard's Prayer to the Virgin (index Oratio Beati Bernardi abbatis ad Beatam Virginem) (ff. 62r-v) John Gibson (fl. 1720-1726), dealer; sold to Edward Harley on 13 September 1722 (f. 1; see Wright and Wright 1966;

• Decorated initial 'S'(icut) combined with a partial bar border with ivy and a dragon at the beginning of the text., Homilies on Matthew (index In Matthaeum)(ff. 1-147v), ending with an alphabetical index (ff. 148-174v); Commentary on Boethius’s De Consolatione philosophiae (ff. 175-272)

contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library. Decorated initial Written by several scribes John Chrysostom (index Johannes Chrysostomus); Nicholas Trevet England

• Text page with coloured initial., Theological miscellany, including Gennadius's 'De vera fide' (ff. 1-17) and Explanation of the epitaph of Constantine the Great (ff. 60v-61v), Pseudo-Methodius's 'Apocalypsis' (ff. 42-45v), and Leo V's 'Oracula' (f. 57)

Text page with coloured initial. A full table of contents in ~Summary Catalogue~ 1999. Initials with foliate decoration in silver and titles in dark red. Line-fillers and small initial in red. Theological miscellany, including Gennadius's 'De vera fide' (ff.

• Decorated headpiece and initial., Basil's 'De legendis libris gentilium' (ff. 1-11v), Isocrates's 'Ad Nicoclem', 'Ad Demonicum' and 'Nicocles' (ff. 13-20, 21-28v, 29-37v), and Plutarch's 'De curiositate' and 'De adulatore et amico' (ff. 39-46, 46v-72v)

in Pistoia: inscribed by one notary: Franciscus Luce, 15th-century, 'Ego franciscus luce notarius opere subscripsi' (f. 72v; see Wright 1972).? John Gibson (fl. 1720-1726), dealer: possibly sold to Edward Harley on 23 June 1726 (see Wright 1976).The Harley Collection, formed

• Headpiece with geometric decoration., Menaion: Canons and other liturgical readings for Saints for November, ending with Stavrothekion, Theotokion and Canon Parakletikos

Headpiece with geometric decoration. Headpiece with geometric decoration, title and initials in light brown (f. 2). Initials and line-fillers in light brown or red. Menaion: Canons and other liturgical readings for Saints for November, ending with Stavrothekion, Theotokion and

• Tailpiece with geometric decoration and title in display capitals., Four Gospels, imperfect, followed by tables of lessons for the ecclesiastical year, imperfect at the end (ff. 214-228)

Tailpiece with geometric decoration and title in display capitals. The leaves with decorated openings at the beginning of the Gospels have been excised leaving the texts imperfect, with the exception of the opening of Mark, on which only the

• Coloured initials and title with foliate decoration., Erotemata

Coloured initials and title with foliate decoration. ff. 1, 3 and 33 are on paper. Coloured title and initials with added? foliate decoration in red and green (f. 4). Initials in red or light brown, occasionally decorated. Rubrics and

• Initials with penwork decoration., Regimen sanitatis salernitanum, with commentary

with pen-flourishing in red, some with leaf decoration. Verse and sentence initials touched in red. Regimen sanitatis salernitanum, with commentary John Covel (b. 1638, d. 1722), chaplain to the Levant Company at Constantinople, 1670-1676, and later Master of Christ's College,

• Initials in blue with red pen-flourishing., Vox Clamantis (beginning imperfectly) (ff. 1-134v), Cronica Tripertita (ff. 134v-49v), and shorter poems (ff. 149v-61)

to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library. Decorated initials John Gower England

• Decorated headpiece and initial., Cyropaedia, with glosses

cancellarius Pistoriensis subscripsi' (f. 3) and Franciscus Luce, 15th-century, 'Ego franciscus luce notarius opere subscripsi' (f. 137v; see Wright 1972).? John Gibson (fl. 1720-1726), dealer: possibly sold to Edward Harley on 23 June 1726 (see Wright 1976).The Harley Collection, formed

• Magical table and symbols in the Magical Treatise of Solomon., Miscellany relating to divination and magic, including parts of two recensions of the Testament of Solomon (ff. 7-7v, 8-18, 39v-41) and a magical treatise attributed to him (ff. 18v-39v)

two recensions of the Testament of Solomon (ff. 7-7v, 8-18, 39v-41) and a magical treatise attributed to him (ff. 18v-39v) John Covel (b. 1638, d. 1722), chaplain of the Levant Company in Constantinople, 1670-1676, and later Master of Christ's College,

• Initials 'T'(he) and 'I'(f) in blue with red pen-decoration. Prologue in red with blue paraph marks., Boke of Marchalsi (treatise on horse breeding and veterinary medicine)

century, 'God that deyd fore vs all' (ff. 1*v, 59v).Inscribed 'IMS' on verso of first flyleaf. This may stand for John Murray of Sacombe. The same initials written on other Harley manuscripts (see Wright, p. 291).The Harley Collection, formed by

• Bar border with decorated initial 'S'(acerdotes) and coloured intial 'P'(ater)., A manual for parish priests (ff. 1-63), and various religious treatises, including Liber ad monachum pro reformatione vitae suae, De utilitate tribulationis, Indulgentiae a papis concessae, Quomodo Bannae matrimoniales sunt publicandae, Instructio pie vivendi

Bar border with decorated initial 'S'(acerdotes) and coloured intial 'P'(ater). f. 123 is a parchment flyleaf with pen trials and inscriptions.f. 124 is a former parchment pastedown. Full bar border in blue and red with a large initial in

• Decorated initial 'U'(niversum)., Legends of the Saints with a table of contents (ff. 1-2), imperfect (index Legenda sanctorum)

Decorated initial 'U'(niversum). f. [253] is a ruled parchment leaf.Horizontal catchwords.The legends of the saints are organised according to the order of their feast days in the liturgical calendar, beginning with the Advent of Christ, the feast of St

• Decorated initial 'H'(ortaris)., Liber de viris illustribus, Chronica (index Greater Chronicle), and various other historical texts

lines. Rubrics in red. Paraphs in blue. Liber de viris illustribus, Chronica (index Greater Chronicle), and various other historical texts John Gibson (fl. 1720-1726), dealer; sold to Edward Harley on 22 June 1726 (~Diary~ 1966; Wright 1972).The Harley Collection, formed

• Pen-flourished initial 'D' with floral motifs., Religious Poems, with an index of first lines (ff. 2-8) (index Poemata Varia Italice)

Pen-flourished initial 'D' with floral motifs. f. 1 is an unfoliated parchment flyleaf with an inscription in Italian that relates to authorship or ownership.f. 253 is a paper flyleaf with pen trials on the verso. Cross in red (f.

• Detail of an historiated initial 'P'(ost) of an enthroned king., Polychronicon

Detail of an historiated initial 'P'(ost) of an enthroned king. Ranulph Higden (b. c. 1299, d. 1364), was a monk of the Benedictine abbey of St. Werburg, Chester. His 'Polychronicon' is a universal history, based on earlier writers, but

• Decorated headpiece at the beginning of Matthew's Gospel., Four Gospels, with Synaxarion and Menologion (ff. 294-329)

and/or brown. Decorated initials in red. Four Gospels, with Synaxarion and Menologion (ff. 294-329) Written by Gerardos: cryptograph (f. 329). John Gibson (fl. 1720-1726), dealer; sold to Edward Harley on 13 February 1723/4 (see ~Diary~ 1966; Wright 1972).The Harley Collection,

• Historiated initial 'C'(armina) depicting a layman pointing to a book he is holding (presumably the author, Boethius), and arms of the de Lando family of Verona in the lower margin., De consolatione philosophiae

privatae~ (Utini:Typis Nicolai Schiratti, 1650), pp. 98-99, which included this text. Unidentified owner, 17th century: inscribed '(2)' (f. 2).? Sir John Saunders Sebright, (b. 1767, d. 1846), 7th baronet, politician and agriculturist: perhaps his sale, 6 April 1807, lot 1128,