Single Leaf Manuscripts

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The Single Leaf Manuscripts Collection features several dozen medieval manuscripts donated by Sigmund Harrison. Most of these are religious texts and written in Latin. Additional highlights of this collection, gifts of Felix Usis, include six papal bulls, a document sealed by Queen Elizabeth I, a legal document signed by Louis XV, a letter signed by Philip II of Spain to the man in charge of supplies for his armada, and a few Arabic manuscripts, including one with an extraordinary illustration of a medieval battle scene.

Collection Guide for the Single Leaf Manuscripts
Browsing as Anonymous (not verified)
199 items [showing 1 - 20]

Pages

Land grant
Title:
Land grant
Description:
Land grant from Richard Betton to(?) Johannes Carlos. Gothic hand. Black ink. On the recto, Salop appears in a second hand in black ink in the top margin. Main text begins with a 2-line capital letter. Just above it are two square holes. The bottom of the letter is folded up and contains a red wax pendent seal which contains a central decorative image. The verso contains writing: "5. Hen. 1403"; "Rick..Betton to M° Carlos Mess V in..Betton"; Phillips MS 36314."
Date:
1404
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Lectionary excerpt
Title:
Lectionary excerpt
Description:
Lectionary. Gothic hand in black ink. 2-line red ink capitals begin paragraphs. Some phrases in red ink: "Paulus ad ephesios" and "Dat evangelium Matheus" in red ink (recto). The words "Des gerechten" appear in the bottom right margin of the verso. Verso also contains a simple decorative line in red ink. 2 columns. Metal point ruling.
Date:
(inferred)1400
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Land grant for land in Ouston
Title:
Land grant for land in Ouston
Description:
Land grant for land in Ouston. Gothic bastard hand. Brown ink. Top left corner of the recto contains two square-shaped holes. The bottom of the page is folded up, and pendent strands of parchment remain. Verso contains writing: "224"; "12.H.4"; "Jo. Dan[ov] grant to Henry (crossed out) Dror of land in Ouston."
Date:
1401-03
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Land grant or will from John son of Henri
Title:
Land grant or will from John son of Henri
Description:
Land grant or will from John son of Henri...of Harntote(?) to his brother Stephen. Gothic bastard hand. Light brown ink. Two square holes are near the top left edge of the recto. Last line of text is completed by dashes. The bottom of the document is folded up, and the pendental strands of parchment are attached. The verso contain some writing: "Phillips MS 31881"; "7 E 2."
Date:
1314
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Exemplification
Title:
Exemplification
Description:
Exemplification that refers to a contract entered into by two brothers, Roger and Robert Taverner, by which they purchased from the Crown during the reign of Henry VIII (on 23 May 1545) the properties of the church at Wellbourne in the county of Lincoln and of the Priory of St. Ive. It is sealed by Queen Elizabeth I. The document spells out the details of the properties acquired: pastures, houses, cottages, animals, woods, empty fields, gardens, mills, water, fishing waters, etc. It grants the above brothers, their heirs and successors permission to hold these. Fine Gothic hand. Brown ink. On the recto "Elizabeth" written in cadel calligraphy begins the document. The word "omnibus" in the first line has a 'b' that extends into a cadel "I" (for Elizabeth I). Various words in the document are rather large and bold. The bottom of the document is folded up, and two decorative, vertical lines enclose the signatures of clerks who examined and signed the document (John Amy...(?) and B. Small). Blind ruling. Prickings on the right side. The verso contains a description of the document in a different hand. The seal of Queen Elizabeth I is detached and still contains pieces of parchment. The seal is made of dark brown wax and about 14.5 inches in diameter. Images of Queen Elizabeth I in full regalia appear on both sides. On the obverse she sits on a horse.
Date:
1596-04-23
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Arabic papyrus fragment
Title:
Arabic papyrus fragment
Description:
Arabic Manuscript. Writing on both sides. The side with horizontal fibers (recto) has a left and right margin.
Date:
850
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Legal text excerpt
Title:
Legal text excerpt
Description:
Law. Jurisprudence. Gothic hand in brown ink. Notes in margins, written in a second hand in black ink, indicate that the text was in the possession of a church library in Hamm, Germany. Additional notations appear in the interlinear space of the text. 2 columns. Writing on both sides.
Date:
(inferred)1200
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Treasury document by William Cecil Lord Burghley
Title:
Treasury document by William Cecil Lord Burghley
Description:
Treasury document by William Cecil Lord Burghley. Dark brown ink. Note regarding rent collection in Monaghan county with a sheet of rents collected on behalf of Queen Elizabeth I. Recto lists the amount of rent due in various months in years 1592-1594. List is bounded on the let and right by a line. Below this are three blocks of text with legal terms about payment of the rent which are bounded by lines on the left and right. Various numerical notations appear to the right of the list and terms of payment. Verso begins with a block of text at the top right corner of the page, bounded on the left by a line. Centered and below this are three groups of text, all bounded on the left by a line. On their right, they are bounded by two separate lines, the top one longer than the bottom. More text stands to the right of these lines, and it is bounded by another line to the right. Some text is to the right of this line. Two groups of two lines of text are just below this, and they are bounded on both sides by a line. Transcript of the verso is available.
Date:
1594
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Papal brief, Clement X
Title:
Papal brief, Clement X
Description:
Papal brief issued by Pope Clement X. Regarding indulgences(?). Cursive. Dark brown ink. Centered on the top of the recto is "CLEMENS PP X". Below the last line of regular text, Gratis pro deo et sera appears in letters larger than those in the rest of the text. A signature in a different brown ink is in the bottom right corner. Four phrases are underlined in brown ink. Verso contains the remains of a red wax seal.
Date:
1670-08-08
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Indenture
Title:
Indenture
Description:
Legal Document. Indenture for land and a messuage between James Campbell, Samuel Herbert Harvey, and Mary Campbell on the one part, and Byres Moir on the other part. Legal document is covered by a bifolio sheet of parchment and bound with the document by thin green ribbon on the left hand side. The cover contains a summary of the document's contents on the back but is blank on all other sides. At the top of the recto of the first page of the legal document, This Indenture is printed in black ink. To the left of and below the "T" is printed "J. Forshaw, Law Stationer, 14 North John St., Liverpool." To the right of "This Indenture" is a tax stamp (orange and white) for 10 shillings. The text of each page is bounded by red lines, and the left margin is rather wide. Manuscript components are cursive in black ink. Throughout the document, words such as "Between" and "whereas" appear in bold. Key elements of the document such as names, monetary amounts, and bolded words and phrases are underlined in red. Pencil (?) check marks appear in left margins. The verso of the last page of the legal document contains the signatures of James Campbell, Mary Campbell, witnesses, and a clerk. To the left of the right margin, a piece of green ribbon is woven through the parchment in such a way that four squares of the ribbon show on the verso. Four red wax seals are on each green square. Pinned to the top of the verso of the last page of the legal document is a printed piece of paper titled "Instructions for the Execution and Attestation of the Deed, and a paragraph with instructions on how to make the deed official follow. Writing on both sides of each page of the legal document.
Date:
1883-07-10
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
De Coriza (On the Cold)
Title:
De Coriza (On the Cold)
Description:
Medicine. De Coriza (On the Cold) text and commentary. Gothic miniscule in brown ink. Principal text is larger than the commentary, and one red and one blue 2-line initial (the 'C' in Coriza in both cases) mark the paragraph beginnings of the principal text. There are red markings in the beginning letters of sentences in the principal text. An intricate line design extending from the middle of the page to the bottom of it appears in the same place on the recto (in red ink) and on the verso (in blue ink). A small "de coriza" appears twice in red ink--once before the principal text and once after it. 2 columns. Writing on both sides. Brown ink ruling.
Date:
(inferred)1200
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Sermon excerpt
Title:
Sermon excerpt
Description:
Sermon. Exhortations including comments about women and adultery. Black ink. Manuscript is trimmed at the right. Left and bottom margins contain older, sloppy Greek writing in brown ink. 4 evenly spaced holes go through the center of the page horizontally. Verso contains writing by a rather modern hand in Latin characters. Writing on both sides.
Date:
(inferred)1000
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Papyrus fragment
Title:
Papyrus fragment
Description:
Greek or Coptic document. Black ink. Recto contains writing in two hands. Some writing is upside down. Verso contains writing in three different hands. Some writing is upside down.
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Breviary excerpt
Title:
Breviary excerpt
Description:
Breviary. Prayers to the Saints (Felician, Hilary, Severus, Amandi) and Vigil of the Apostles. Gothic textura quadrata. Brown ink. 2-line long red initials begin paragraphs, and some words at the end of paragraphs are in red ink. 2 columns. Writing on both sides. Writing in a second hand appears at the top of the verso.
Date:
(inferred)1200
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Legal document
Title:
Legal document
Description:
Judgment by Jehans Keuresis, Provost of St. Quentin in a dispute between the procurer of the Abbot of the Monastery and Church of St. Vincent de Laon, and the Dean, priests of the commonalty of Venduel concerning the seizin of a piece of land called Pierre as Courcelles between Avesques and Clastre. Gothic hand. Dark Brown ink. Text on the recto begins with a 4-line decorative capital "A." Top left corner has the date "8 [Febru?] 1324" in a second hand. Additional writing in a third hand is in the left margin. Bottom of the page is folded up (over 2 cm) and contains 7 evenly spaced words in the same hand as the principal text. The verso has "Phillips MS 36601" and a couple of words in various hands. At the bottom, 3 lines of ruled French text in Gothic hand (not the same hand as that of the principal text) appear in light brown ink. Blind ruling. [Other proper names in the document : Johans Guillaumes, Johnas de Camak(?), Robers(?) Baudin(?), Jehan Sohier(?), Pierre Cemie(?).]
Date:
1324
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Indenture
Title:
Indenture
Description:
Legal Document. Indenture for a messuage or tenements between George Manner and Thomas Cavington Campbell. Recto of the document begins with "This Indenture" printed in black ink. Below the word "This" is also printed, LAUNDY, Law Stationer./ 48, Essex Street, Strand./ Deeds & Writings. Engrossed & Copied. Manuscript is mostly cursive in black ink. Certain phrases and words such as "Between" and "Provided Also" appear in bold and are slightly larger than the rest of the text. Text is bounded on all sides by red lines. Left margin contains a tax stamp for 3 schillings and 9 pence, and this stamp is overlapped by a small, circular, black ink stamp that reads "London/ 3-4-52" and contains a crown. The bottom of the document is folded up and sealed with red wax seals on top of green ribbon. Seals contain a lattice design. Light pink string ties the folded portion together in three places. The signatures of George Manner and Thomas Cavington Campbell appear near the seals. Verso contains signatures and statements of witnesses, a summary of the document, and a stamped phrase about the registration of the document. Knife prickings on left and right edges.
Date:
1852-03-31
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Diploma
Title:
Diploma
Description:
Sadie Bell's Baccalaureate of Arts Degree diploma issued by Bryn Mawr College in 1912. The name that appears on the diploma is Sara Beliekowsky. Signed by M. Carey Thomas, president of the college. Bryn Mawr College's gold seal is attached to the document just below the signatures. One gold and one white ribbon go through the page toward the bottom and wrap around the bottom end of the document.
Date:
1912
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
2 Peter 1:10-1, John 1:6
Title:
2 Peter 1:10-1, John 1:6
Description:
Bible. 2 Pet. 1:10-1 John 1:6. Extremely tiny writing in light brown ink. 2-line capital letters in red and blue ink in the left margins mark significant places in the text. Verso contains one word in brown ink and another below it in blue ink to the right of column two. 2 columns. Blind ruling.
Date:
(inferred)1100
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Grant of nobility
Title:
Grant of nobility
Description:
Legal document. Grant of Nobility to Joseph Zendler von Helmburg. An earlier summary of the document reads: This document grants to Joseph Zendler, for services rendered to the Emperor and his Kingdom, the status of nobleman. Besides listing Zendler's past achievements and his new privileges, it enjoins all ranks of society to accept Joseph Zendler von Helmburg as a nobleman under pain of penalty. It also grants him the coat-of-arms and counsels him to use it. Brown and black ink. Fraktur. Two pieces of paper are on either side of the eight pages of parchment, and these are bound into a red velvet cover. The coat-of-arms, on the recto of the 6th page, is surrounded by a gold-leaf border and is painted in black, gold, white, red, blue, and green ink. Signatures, including that of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, are on the recto of the ninth page. Document is sealed by Francis II. Red wax seal is in a metal container. The obverse of the metal container contains "F. II" inside of a shield between double eagles under a crown. The red wax seal depicts two griffins flanking a coat of arms, and the image is surrounded by text.
Date:
1797-08-24
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts
Papyrus fragment
Title:
Papyrus fragment
Description:
Greek(?) document. Black ink. Script is nearly cursive. Left margin remains. Fragment is badly preserved on the right and bottom. Verso is blank.
Collection:
Single Leaf Manuscripts

Pages