Single Leaf Manuscripts

Liturgical text (?). Beneventan script. Red and black ink. Text is perpendicular to blind ruled lines.

Sermon. Gothic bastard in black ink. First letter of some words highlighted with red ink. Some words underlined in red ink. Verso has a sentence in red ink and contains a 5-line capital "P" in an ink that has eaten away the parchment. 2 columns. Blind ruling. Knife prickings.

Science. Wilhelm de Conchis' De Philosophia Mundi. Early Gothic minuscule. Brown ink. Writing on both sides. Blind ruling.

Legal document issued by Louis XIV. Cursive. Brown ink. The letters in the first line of the document are twice as large as those in the rest of the document. Above the first line is a segment of unintelligible text. A line that zigzags horizontally marks the end of the text. Below it, Charleroi is rather clearly written, but the text directly to the right of it is not. Two undecipherable signatures are below this line. Verso of the document contains a circular, black ink stamped seal containing Louis XIV's coat of arms, which contains a triple fleur-de-lis (a stylized lily) with a crown on top. The coat of arms is surrounded by text. In the area between the text and the edge of the seal are crosses and at least one figure of a baby or cherub on the left. Another figure likely is on the right side. An undecipherable word stands to the left of the stamp, and "Chanceller..." stands to the right of it. The parchment is nearly transparent in some areas.

Legal document. Indenture for mortgage between John Francis Kempt of Middlesex County and Joseph Gibson of Gosport. Document consists of two pieces of parchment, the top piece being a continuation of the bottom piece. The document begins with "This Indenture, printed in large black ink letters. Below the capital T" is printed:" L.S. Burman, Law Stationer, 7 Warwick Court, Holborn. Deeds & Writings Engrossed & Copied." Manuscript components are cursive in dark brown or black ink. Throughout the document, words such as "between" and "and whereas" are bold. The text is bounded on the left, right, and top sides by triple red lines in red ink. Left margin of the document contains a one pound tax stamp. Recto of the second page of the document has printed in large letters "... This Indenture Further Witnesseth That, and the layout of this page is much the same as the first. The left margin contains a second one pound tax stamp. The bottoms the documents are folded up together and sealed with two strands of green ribbon beneath red wax seals. The seals seem to contain the image of a man's head facing right. Signatures of John Francis Kempt and Joseph Gibson appear near the seals.Verso of the beginning page contains signatures of witnesses as well as a summary of the document. Metal point ruling. Prickings on the left and right edges. Top edge of the beginning page of the document has a wavy-cut edge.

Document. Modern cursive. Brown ink. Recto contains text which is poorly preserved at the top and in the center of the document. Parchment is trimmed at the top and right. Below the principal text are 8 lines of space, followed by 2 lines of text (and signatures?). Some of this space is interrupted by capital letters in the top line of this text. Light brown ink ruling. Holes at the bottom of the page suggest that the document was previously sealed.

Missal. Readings from St. Paul, St. Luke, and St. John. Carolingian minuscule. Brown ink. Initials are 2 lines long and in red ink. Blind ruling. Writing on both sides.

Legal document. Indenture relating to the selling (?) of a joint business and a list of debts owed to the business. Contract is between Edward Ffrancklin, citizen of Loudon, and Thomas Stokes. Cursive. Black ink. Text begins with an 8-line capital "T" which begins "This Indenture, also in large, bold black letters. The top (and interior of some letters) are elaborately decorated with swirling lines and dots. Inside of the capital T" contains a stamped seal that reads "HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE." The top of the seal has a crown, and inside of the surrounding text is a coat of arms that contains lions stantant and fleur-de-lis in the top left and bottom right quarters. The top right quarter contains a lion rampant, and the bottom left corner contains the stringed argent. Wide left and bottom margin. Text runs to the right edge of the parchment. The verso contains a summary of the indenture and is signed by B. Pratt, Samuell Heap..., and Watson/Winston (?) Birling. Strands of parchment at the bottom of the page contain a red wax pendent seal, to which is attached a list of who owes how much money to T. Stokes and E. Ffrancklin. Writing on both sides. Blind ruling. Attached to this by means of parchment is an additional, smaller piece of parchment with tallies of debts created by T. Stokes. The seal that connects the documents is just barely attached.

Liturgical text. Dark brown ink. In the left margin are the letters Delta through Theta (recto) and Iota through Xi (verso) which are 2-lines long and in red ink. Throughout the document, lines appear containing a red ink lunate sigma, followed by a symbol (that looks like tau and iota with a small x above it) in brown ink, followed by another letter (or two) in red ink. These red ink letters mark the beginning of the next paragraph (or verse?) which does not always begin on a new line. Bling ruling. Knife prickings on the right side of the page.

Land grant from Roger (Howalls?). Gothic bastard hand. Dark brown ink. The recto contains two square holes in the top left corner. Text begins with a 2-line capital. 2 paragraphs. Document is torn at the bottom. Two red wax pendent seals are attached to the bottom left corner. The verso is blank, except for some modern writing in pencil. (The date given is 18 Ed. IV. The date of this grant, then, is slightly uncertain due to the fact that Edward IV was deposed in 1470 and enthroned a second time in 1471.)