• Decorated initial O(paca) in blue, magenta, and green with floral sprays and bezants. Marginal hand and text hand by Gunthorpe., Tragoediae (index Tragedies)

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. Initial John Gunthorpe John Gunthorpe Lucius Annaeus Seneca Ferrara Ferrara, Italy

• Decorated initial 'A'(lvredus) with pen-flourishing at the beginning of book 6., Polychronicon (to the 25th year in the reign of Henry VI, i.e. 1445), including 2 extracts from the Latin Brut Chronicle of England (ff. 227-228v) (imperfect)

Includes a genealogy and chronological diagrams at the end including a diagram (ff. 235v-236) listing the archbishops of Canterbury to John Stafford (archbishop from 1443, d. 1452) and the popes to Pius II (elected 1458, d. 1464) (ff. 229v-236).Added index

• Foliate initial 'I'(n), mostly excised, at the beginning of Livy's Ab urbe condita., Ab urbe condita (third, first, and fourth decades)

4 March 1793, lot 1201, bought by Egerton for £4 14s. 6d.John Egerton, ~Catalogue of Books, including the Library of John Smeaton … and Many Other Collections~, 1794, item 1506, priced £12 12s.Charles Burney (b. 1757, d. 1817), D.D., classical

• null, Ab urbe condita (third, first, and fourth decades)

4 March 1793, lot 1201, bought by Egerton for £4 14s. 6d.John Egerton, ~Catalogue of Books, including the Library of John Smeaton … and Many Other Collections~, 1794, item 1506, priced £12 12s.Charles Burney (b. 1757, d. 1817), D.D., classical

• Miniature of Medea killing her children., The Fall of Princes (index De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium), abridged

abridged Numerous medieval and post-medieval added inscriptions in Greek, English and Latin (ff. 1*v, 2*v, 265v, 266). John Bentley: inscribed in 1587 'John Bentley aetatis sue xxxiiii, fe. viii 1587 Anno eliza xxx' (f. 4v).Thomas Cotton, 16th century: inscribed with

• Miniature with two hanging men., The Fall of Princes (index De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium), abridged

abridged Numerous medieval and post-medieval added inscriptions in Greek, English and Latin (ff. 1*v, 2*v, 265v, 266). John Bentley: inscribed in 1587 'John Bentley aetatis sue xxxiiii, fe. viii 1587 Anno eliza xxx' (f. 4v).Thomas Cotton, 16th century: inscribed with

• Illuminated initials., Metrical lives of Saints Edmund and Fremund, in the presentation copy for Henry VI, including the prologue (ff. 1v-5)

initials. John Lydgate (probably from Lidgate or Lydgate, 10 miles from Bury), a monk of the abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, translated this work on the life of king Edmund and his cousin Fremund from Latin into English verse to

• Miniature of the suicide of Dido., The Fall of Princes (index De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium), abridged

abridged Numerous medieval and post-medieval added inscriptions in Greek, English and Latin (ff. 1*v, 2*v, 265v, 266). John Bentley: inscribed in 1587 'John Bentley aetatis sue xxxiiii, fe. viii 1587 Anno eliza xxx' (f. 4v).Thomas Cotton, 16th century: inscribed with

• Miniature of Cyrus and Astyages in battle., The Fall of Princes (index De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium), abridged

abridged Numerous medieval and post-medieval added inscriptions in Greek, English and Latin (ff. 1*v, 2*v, 265v, 266). John Bentley: inscribed in 1587 'John Bentley aetatis sue xxxiiii, fe. viii 1587 Anno eliza xxx' (f. 4v).Thomas Cotton, 16th century: inscribed with

• Miniature of Croesus being seized by a knight., The Fall of Princes (index De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium), abridged

abridged Numerous medieval and post-medieval added inscriptions in Greek, English and Latin (ff. 1*v, 2*v, 265v, 266). John Bentley: inscribed in 1587 'John Bentley aetatis sue xxxiiii, fe. viii 1587 Anno eliza xxx' (f. 4v).Thomas Cotton, 16th century: inscribed with

• Miniature of Marcus Regulus., The Fall of Princes (index De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium), abridged

abridged Numerous medieval and post-medieval added inscriptions in Greek, English and Latin (ff. 1*v, 2*v, 265v, 266). John Bentley: inscribed in 1587 'John Bentley aetatis sue xxxiiii, fe. viii 1587 Anno eliza xxx' (f. 4v).Thomas Cotton, 16th century: inscribed with

• Miniature of Marcus Regulus., The Fall of Princes (index De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium), abridged

abridged Numerous medieval and post-medieval added inscriptions in Greek, English and Latin (ff. 1*v, 2*v, 265v, 266). John Bentley: inscribed in 1587 'John Bentley aetatis sue xxxiiii, fe. viii 1587 Anno eliza xxx' (f. 4v).Thomas Cotton, 16th century: inscribed with

• Miniature of the death of Marcus Regulus., The Fall of Princes (index De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium), abridged

abridged Numerous medieval and post-medieval added inscriptions in Greek, English and Latin (ff. 1*v, 2*v, 265v, 266). John Bentley: inscribed in 1587 'John Bentley aetatis sue xxxiiii, fe. viii 1587 Anno eliza xxx' (f. 4v).Thomas Cotton, 16th century: inscribed with

• Miniature of Nero's escape., The Fall of Princes (index De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium), abridged

abridged Numerous medieval and post-medieval added inscriptions in Greek, English and Latin (ff. 1*v, 2*v, 265v, 266). John Bentley: inscribed in 1587 'John Bentley aetatis sue xxxiiii, fe. viii 1587 Anno eliza xxx' (f. 4v).Thomas Cotton, 16th century: inscribed with

• Miniature of heathen kings being slain by Arthur., The Fall of Princes (index De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium), abridged

abridged Numerous medieval and post-medieval added inscriptions in Greek, English and Latin (ff. 1*v, 2*v, 265v, 266). John Bentley: inscribed in 1587 'John Bentley aetatis sue xxxiiii, fe. viii 1587 Anno eliza xxx' (f. 4v).Thomas Cotton, 16th century: inscribed with

• Detail of a miniature of king Joash being crowned by bishop Joiada., The Fall of Princes (index De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium), abridged

abridged Numerous medieval and post-medieval added inscriptions in Greek, English and Latin (ff. 1*v, 2*v, 265v, 266). John Bentley: inscribed in 1587 'John Bentley aetatis sue xxxiiii, fe. viii 1587 Anno eliza xxx' (f. 4v).Thomas Cotton, 16th century: inscribed with

• Detail of a miniature of Sardanapalus sitting in a landscape, spinning, with a woman beside him., The Fall of Princes (index De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium), abridged

abridged Numerous medieval and post-medieval added inscriptions in Greek, English and Latin (ff. 1*v, 2*v, 265v, 266). John Bentley: inscribed in 1587 'John Bentley aetatis sue xxxiiii, fe. viii 1587 Anno eliza xxx' (f. 4v).Thomas Cotton, 16th century: inscribed with

• Detail of a miniature of Cresus kneeling in a fire which is extinguished by the rain pouring from a cloud above., The Fall of Princes (index De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium), abridged

abridged Numerous medieval and post-medieval added inscriptions in Greek, English and Latin (ff. 1*v, 2*v, 265v, 266). John Bentley: inscribed in 1587 'John Bentley aetatis sue xxxiiii, fe. viii 1587 Anno eliza xxx' (f. 4v).Thomas Cotton, 16th century: inscribed with

• Detail of a miniature of Haman hanging from an elaborately counter-weighted gallows., The Fall of Princes (index De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium), abridged

abridged Numerous medieval and post-medieval added inscriptions in Greek, English and Latin (ff. 1*v, 2*v, 265v, 266). John Bentley: inscribed in 1587 'John Bentley aetatis sue xxxiiii, fe. viii 1587 Anno eliza xxx' (f. 4v).Thomas Cotton, 16th century: inscribed with

• Detail of a miniature of the bones of king Lycurgus being cast into the sea (shown as a stream)., The Fall of Princes (index De casibus virorum et feminarum illustrium), abridged

abridged Numerous medieval and post-medieval added inscriptions in Greek, English and Latin (ff. 1*v, 2*v, 265v, 266). John Bentley: inscribed in 1587 'John Bentley aetatis sue xxxiiii, fe. viii 1587 Anno eliza xxx' (f. 4v).Thomas Cotton, 16th century: inscribed with