• Initial in foliate design in a foliate design, in gold and colours, inhabited by snakes., World chronicle from the Creation to 1574

Initial in foliate design in a foliate design, in gold and colours, inhabited by snakes. The text corresponds to Dorotheos of Moenmbasia's 'Bible History', but with significant variations.The manuscript has an old pagination '1-1723' in ink (ff. 1-861). Headpiece

• White vine initial 'P'(lutarchus) at the beginning of the text., 'Noctes atticae'

White vine initial 'P'(lutarchus) at the beginning of the text. Guide letters. Catchwords written vertically. Leaf signatures. 19 large white vine initials (ff. 2v, 18v, 34v, 45v, 54v, 65, 73, 86, 95v, 107v, 115v, 125v, 140, 149v, 159v, 169,

• Full-page miniature of Bridget writing while an angel whispers in her ear at the beginning of the Fifteen Oes of St Bridget., Prayer book

acanthus leaves, flowers, fruits, besants, and birds, of the Crucifixion (f. 12v), the Last Judgment (f. 17v), Bridget (f. 47v), John the Evangelist (f. 77v), Barbara (f. 81v), and the Assumption of the Virgin (f. 83v). 1 small miniature combined

• Partial white vine border with a large historiated initial 'L'(eo) with a portrait of Pope Leo I in his study and a smaller white vine initial 'L'(eo)., Letters of Pope Leo I ( the Great), with the Life of Leo by Marcus Michael of Crotona

Partial white vine border with a large historiated initial 'L'(eo) with a portrait of Pope Leo I in his study and a smaller white vine initial 'L'(eo). f. 1 is a parchment flyleaf.This manuscript was written by the same

• Full white vine border inhabited by putti and a bird, a miniature of a young man presenting a book to a pope, and a coat of arms in the lower margin., Glossed Liber Sextus Decretalium

Full white vine border inhabited by putti and a bird, a miniature of a young man presenting a book to a pope, and a coat of arms in the lower margin. f. 376 is a blank parchment leaf.f. 377

• Historiated initial 'E'(x) of Petrarch at the preface of the second book., De remediis utriusque fortunae

Historiated initial 'E'(x) of Petrarch at the preface of the second book. f. [iv] is a former pastedown.There are 3 unfoliated ruled folios after f. 6*.The table of contents (ff. 1*-6*) is in a different hand from the rest

• White vine initial 'Q'(uaecumque) with a portrait of Pope Pius II (Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini) in profile., Cosmographia

White vine initial 'Q'(uaecumque) with a portrait of Pope Pius II (Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini) in profile. Horizontal catchwords.The manuscript was written in the 3rd quarter of the 15th century, possibly in Rome, according to unpublished notes of A. C.

• Text page with decorated initial 'F'(ratres) and three initials smaller with penwork decoration: 'C'(onditor), 'E'(xcita), 'V'(erbum)., Breviary, use of Rome

Text page with decorated initial 'F'(ratres) and three initials smaller with penwork decoration: 'C'(onditor), 'E'(xcita), 'V'(erbum). Horizontal catchwords, some with simple penwork frames.f. [278] is a ruled parchment leaf. 2 large illuminated intials in colours and gold with acanthus

• Large gold initial with white vine decoration extending in the margin and small gold initial on a coloured ground with contrasting tracery., De differentiis rerum, book 2

Large gold initial with white vine decoration extending in the margin and small gold initial on a coloured ground with contrasting tracery. Index of contents (ff. 1-2v).Contemporary glosses and notabilia in cursive hand. White vine initial in colours and

• Full border and initial with foliate decoration., The Fall of Princes, Books 1-9, imperfect (ff. 1-182v), preceded by a table of contents (f. 1* verso), and followed by Lydgate's 'Defence of Holy Church', imperfect (ff. 182v-183)

of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library. Illuminated border and initial Giovanni Boccaccio, translation by John Lydgate based on a translation by Laurent de Premierfait England

• White vine initial 'F'(ortitudo) at the beginning of the text and wreath in the lower margin enclosing a blank space originally intended for a heraldic motif., Vita S. Bernardi (index Life of St Bernard)

White vine initial 'F'(ortitudo) at the beginning of the text and wreath in the lower margin enclosing a blank space originally intended for a heraldic motif. Rubrics were probably originally in red ink but the pigment has oxidised. Catchwords.

• Initial 'O' (Blessid) in gold on a pink and blue background., Prayer Book (with numerous 16th century additions)

including: 'Johan Holland ownethe this book god make her a good woman' and 'The 15th of February 1590 payd to John his nurse' (f. 44).Excerpt from 'Seneca ad Lucilium', 18th century (f. 1*v).The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b.

• Initial and headpiece with foliate and geometric decoration., Miscellany of Byzantine liturgical music, including 'Kekragaria' (ff. 9-115v), Glykys's settings for 11 Morning Hymns (index Eothina anastasima) of the Emperor Leo the Wise (ff. 115v-130v), and Chrysaphes's 'Cheroubikon' and 'Koinonikon' (ff. 131v-133v), with late music notation

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 headpiece and initial John Glykys (index Ioannes Glykys), Manuel Chrysaphes Eastern Mediterranean

• Pen-flourished initial 'B'(ritannia)., Chronicles of England to the reign of king Henry VI (r. 1422-1461 and again from 1470-1471) (Chronicon Angliae)

signature probably once appeared in the top right corner of f. 1, which has been cut off (see Wright 1972). John Warburton (b. 1682, d. 1759), of Bury, county Lancashire, antiquary and herald, Somerset Herald in 1720: sold to Edward

• Large white vine initials 'E'(phigeniam) and 'V'(ere), and an effaced coat of arms of a gold shield with three red stars (?) on a blue ground, encircled by a wreath., Ephigenia

Large white vine initials 'E'(phigeniam) and 'V'(ere), and an effaced coat of arms of a gold shield with three red stars (?) on a blue ground, encircled by a wreath. f. 1* is a paper leaf.Ruled in ink.Horizontal catchwords.

• Decorated headpiece and initial, and marginal diagram., Commentary on Plato's Alcibiades

Decorated headpiece and initial, and marginal diagram. Sparse marginal readers's annotations. Headpiece with geometric decoration, title, decorated initial and marginal diagram in red (f. 2). Small decorated initials (ff. 116v, 117v). Commentary on Plato's Alcibiades Scribe erroneously identified as

• Text page with illuminated initial 'C'(redere)., Latin Poems

initials with grey penwork decoration, some with faces in the bowls. Rubrics in red. Capitals marked in red. Latin Poems John Somers (b. 1651, d. 1716), baron Somers, lawyer and politician: inscribed by Edward Harley, 'Janu: 6. 1738/9 from Ld

• Pen-flourished initial 'D'(eus) at the beginning of the Penitential Psalms., Book of Hours, Use of Sarum

a different hand (ff. 4-9v).'Oratio valde bona ad dicendum in mane' with a reading from John and a prayer 'Deprecor te, domina mea' omitted after readings from Luke, Matthew and Mark (ff. 64v-68) and added by the same hand at

• Miniature of the death of Philippe VI, with a partial border containing the arms of John Donne, at the beginning of the list of contents., Chroniques (books 3-4)

with a partial border containing the arms of John Donne, at the beginning of the list of contents. Contains books of the second volume of the Chroniques of Froissart; the other volumes are Royal 14 D II, 14 D IV-VI.Catchwords

• Miniature of Christ riding a donkey upon his Entry into Jerusalem., Prayer book (Fifteen Oes of St Bridget), imperfect

117v), the Nailing to the Cross (f. 118v), the Crucifixion (f. 119), the Deposition (f. 119v; unfinished), the Pietà with John and Mary Magdalene (f. 120v), the Entombment (f. 121)). 'Champ' initials in colours and gold. Paraphs in red. Prayer