Rare Books

The term "medieval manuscripts" refers to texts created in the first 1,000 years after the fall of the Roman Empire in 476. They are generally defined by two characteristics:

1) Codex format, in which distinct leaves, usually made of animal skin, are bound together. Before the codex, the scroll was the most prominent format for ancient books.

2) Texts copied by hand. Everything from the lettering to decoration to illustration was handcrafted by scribes. The end of the medieval manuscript period is defined by the advent of the Western printing press, but the transition from manuscript to printed books was not a seamless one.

In this section of the Rare Books LibGuide, you will find a description and sample list of Texas Tech University's medieval manuscript collection as well as a list of resources to help you start researching medieval texts. The latter includes general textbooks, histories, and guides to European manuscripts of the Middle Ages; resources on deciphering historical handwriting (palaeography); catalogs and censuses to help locate copies of medieval manuscripts; books on the history of medieval manuscript collecting and ownership; and resources for researching Islamicate texts of the medieval period.

Rare Books has a number of high-quality facsimiles (reproductions) of medieval manuscript texts held by institutions such as the Vatican and the British Library. The collection is also home to several authentic medieval fragments and codices. What follows is a sampling of medieval materials available for research:

General Reference and Vocabulary

Palaeography: The Art of Deciphering Historical Handwriting

Catalogs of Medieval Manuscripts

Provenance and the Post-Medieval Journeys of Manuscripts

Islamicate Manuscripts