• Miniatures of bees collecting pollen from flowering plants, and below, of doves nesting in the peridens tree. A dragon waits below the peridens' branches, hoping to have an opportunity to catch one of its enemies, the dove, according to the text. On the opposite page, a snake is depicted in the upper miniature, and a dragon below., Theological miscellany, including the Summa de vitiis (see Notes for contents)

in 1753 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. Bees Peraldus England

• Ink drawings in roundels of a bearded man and a younger man holding a book, at the beginning of an exhortation to study, addressed by a father to his son., 'Scutum Bede', a collection of Latin treatises, including a Libellus de nominibus naturalium rerum (ff. 155v-165)

1st duke of Buckingham and Chandos, of Stowe House, near Buckingham.Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1797, d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos: sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham. Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham

• Decorated initial 'P'(erfecti) with a human head in profile at the base of the initial, a decorated initial 'I' and prickings visible along the left-hand edge of the leaf made with a three-pointed tool., 'Scutum Bede', a collection of Latin treatises, including a Libellus de nominibus naturalium rerum (ff. 155v-165)

1st duke of Buckingham and Chandos, of Stowe House, near Buckingham.Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1797, d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos: sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham. Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham

• Coloured initials 'Q'(uibus), 'R'(ex), 'H'(uic), and 'E'(llredus) in a page of the chronicle in which Thorney and Ramsey are mentioned a few lines above the rubric., 'Scutum Bede', a collection of Latin treatises, including a Libellus de nominibus naturalium rerum (ff. 155v-165)

1st duke of Buckingham and Chandos, of Stowe House, near Buckingham.Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1797, d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos: sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham. Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham

• Decorated initials on a page including a list of kings, in two columns. Next to the name of King Erconbert (d. 664) , half-way down the left column, is a contemporary note in smaller script stating that he was married to Sexburga, sister of Etheldreda, both of whom were abbesses of Ely., 'Scutum Bede', a collection of Latin treatises, including a Libellus de nominibus naturalium rerum (ff. 155v-165)

1st duke of Buckingham and Chandos, of Stowe House, near Buckingham.Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1797, d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos: sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham. Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham

• Decorated initials 'P' and 'B'. In the left margin next to the initial 'P' is a faint letter 'R', for 'red', or 'rouge', in French, and next to the green initial 'B' is a letter that could either be a 'G', for green, or a 'V', for 'vert', in French., 'Scutum Bede', a collection of Latin treatises, including a Libellus de nominibus naturalium rerum (ff. 155v-165)

1st duke of Buckingham and Chandos, of Stowe House, near Buckingham.Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1797, d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos: sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham. Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham

• Decorated initial 'O', and in the lower half of this page, a list of names of animals with some English equivalents next to the Latin written in smaller script. For example, above 'Agna' is 'ewelomb' (ewe lamb); next to 'Porcus' is 'Swin' (Swine) and 'Porc'; below 'Sus' is 'bor' (boar); and on the bottom line next to 'Capra' is 'got' (goat)., 'Scutum Bede', a collection of Latin treatises, including a Libellus de nominibus naturalium rerum (ff. 155v-165)

1st duke of Buckingham and Chandos, of Stowe House, near Buckingham.Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1797, d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos: sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham. Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham

• Decorated headpiece with animals and foliate forms, and decorated foliate initial, at the beginning of the 8th book., History of the Peloponnesian war

foliate or braided decoration at the beginning of books (ff. 1, 31v, 56, 81v, 111v, 133v, 157, 179v). 8 large initials in brown with penwork decoration, including of heads at the beginning of books (ff. 1, 31v, 56, 81v, 111v,

• Decorated initial 'B'(eatus) combined with a full foliate bar border including interlace at the beginning of Psalm 1., Psalter, imperfect

1753 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. Beatus initial Winchester England,

• Decorated initial 'D'(ixit) combined with a full foliate bar border including interlace at the beginning of Psalm 38., Psalter, imperfect

1753 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 initial Winchester England,

• null, Legenda aurea (index Legendae sanctorum; Legends of the saints; Golden Legend)

d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos: sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham. Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham Place, Sussex.Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1840, d. 1913), 5th earl of Ashburnham: purchased by the

• null, Legenda aurea (index Legendae sanctorum; Legends of the saints; Golden Legend)

d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos: sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham. Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham Place, Sussex.Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1840, d. 1913), 5th earl of Ashburnham: purchased by the

• Marginal drawing of travellers, speaking In English, in the margin of Jacobus de Voragine's life of Cecila., Legenda aurea (index Legendae sanctorum; Legends of the saints; Golden Legend)

Marginal drawing of travellers, speaking In English, in the margin of Jacobus de Voragine's life of Cecila. Rust-stains from a chain-staple (?) at the lower edge of the front flyleaves (ff. [iii-]iv]). 4 large puzzle initials in red and blue

• Detail of marginal drawing of a man., Domesday book (ends imperfectly)

Detail of marginal drawing of a man. Marginal sketches, 16th century, of letters and ornamental elements (ff. 24, 35, 36, 56v, 59v), of a symbolic figure held by two hands (ff. 32v, 53v), of animals (mostly a dog hunting a

• Decorated initial 'V'(etus), at the beginning of book 4., De universo seu De rerum naturis

'Etymologies' of Isidore, of Rabanus Maurus (b. c. 776, d. 856), abbot of Fulda and later archbishop of Mainz (ff. 6-282v), preceded by the letters to Louis the Germanic, king of Germany (843-876) (ff. 1-2), and to Haymo, bishop of

• Initials 'P'(rima), 'Q'(uatuor), 'N'(on), 'T'(abernaculum) with penwork decoration., Liber Exceptionum, Part II (ff. 1-55v); sermons, and other texts (see Notes for contents)

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 Richardof Saint-Victor Rochester England, S.

• Decorated initial 'G'(lorisissimo), the ownership inscription of the Benedictine abbey of Saint Pater, Gloucester, and the Old Royal press-mark 'no. 965'., Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, with preface and tables of chapters, imperfect at the end

in fainter ink, the note 'per Richard Hauley abbatem' (of Gloucester, 1457-1472).f. 225, reused as a flyleaf, is a folio from a thirteenth-century manuscript of the Historia Scholastica of Petrus Comestor. Added pen drawing of a chalice or urn in

• Following the numbered list of chapters (some of the numbers are visible through the parchment in the right-hand column), the start of the main text is introduced by a large red initial 'B' and opening words in capital letters (now darkened to a silvery black, due to oxidisation)., Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, with preface and tables of chapters, imperfect at the end

in fainter ink, the note 'per Richard Hauley abbatem' (of Gloucester, 1457-1472).f. 225, reused as a flyleaf, is a folio from a thirteenth-century manuscript of the Historia Scholastica of Petrus Comestor. Added pen drawing of a chalice or urn in

• Puzzle-initial 'T'(ranscriptum) with pen-flourishing at the beginning of Robert Grosseteste's translation of Tertullian, 'Testamentum XII patriarcharum'., Testamentum XII patriarcharum (ff. 1-15); Beniamin minor, in verse (ff. 15-20); Elucidarius (ff. 20v-34v)

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. Text page Tertullian, translated by Robert Grosseteste (ff. 1-15); Richardof

• Decorated initial 'S'(eynt) with pen-flourishing at the beginning of the text., Apocalypse (in Wycliffe translation), with commentary

in 1753 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 initial England