The Aberdeen Bestiary This is a real blockbuster epic site from Aberdeen University which examines a single manuscript in enormous detail. There are scans of each page, printed text, commentary and close ups of the art work. This newer edition of the web site has a more streamlined interface.
The Burnet Psalter Also from Aberdeen University, this shows a complete 15th century psalter with full page images and commentary.
The St Albans Psalter Project Yet another full Monty from Aberdeen University. These guys are good!
Cyber-psalter This is a site based on a thesis which examines in great detail the Huntingfield Psalter in the Pierpont Morgan Library. There is also a mass of historical and contextual material. It is no longer online at its old address, but can be scavenged from The Internet Archive, as here.
Treasures of the State Library - The Antiphonal The State Library of South Australia presents images and descriptive commentary from a 13th century Italian antiphonal in their collections.
The Book of Kells is no longer illustrated on the Trinity College, Dublin site. Even the ad for the CD-ROM and the dire warnings about this being the only authorised digital edition have vanished, but you can buy the DVD-ROM and all manner of other products from their shop. For an unauthorised digital peek at a few pages try here. ArtServe at the Australian National University also has some samples here. Access to the Middle Ages: Medieval Manuscripts in Facsimile shows some reproductions from two different facsimile editions. Goes to show you never can tell.
The Lindisfarne Gospels: Diocese of Durham A short article and the usual small selection of illustrated pages from the famed work, but with very high quality enlargements.This is no longer live, but like many lost treasures, can be found on The Internet Archive.
The Murthley Hours From the National Library of Scotland, an electronic facsimile of a very early book of hours from 1280. There is no transcription and minimal commentary, so perhaps they are expecting you might buy the associated book or CD-ROM.
Artz Hours A work in progress, intending to show a complete book of hours with transcript. The images are not of astonishing quality, with a bit of a green cast, and black backgrounds make for painful reading, but this is somebody's labour of love. It is hosted on a rather odd web site.
Brandeis University Libraries Special Collections Department - Book of Hours This displays images of full pages of a complete book of hours. The commentary is provided by the site Late Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts on the Web. You can get the whole thing by accessing either of the two sites.
D & D Galleries A bookseller has put up a complete facsimile of a book of hours sold by the gallery some time ago, as an educational resource. A full transcript of the work is available on the Late Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts on the Web site. You must enter through this to get the transcript as it is not linked the other way.
Codex Vindobonensis 1856 This is a site showing illustrated leaves from a facsimile edition of Vienna Codex 1856, a 15th century Burgundian book of hours written on black vellum. From the same bookseller as the previous. Now no longer live, but here excavated from The Internet Archive.
A Book of Hours There are some pictures, mainly of miniatures, from a 15th century Book of Hours with a glossary and description of how manuscripts were made.
Book Of Hours This time from the University of Pittsburgh, with small images and description of a 15th century Book of Hours.
Auckland City Libraries - Medieval Manuscripts Online At this point in time, one medieval manuscript, in fact. This site displays a series of images and notes from a book of hours in their collection.
The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a brief but interesting exploration of some leaves from a book of hours in their collection.
Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry Images of full pages, including text. The images are not as high quality as those in the Louvre Webmuseum, but it is a much more comprehensive presentation.
Les Tres Riches Heures de Metz Eight reproductions from a 14th century book of hours, mainly of historiated initials, in the Metz Municipal Library.
Getijdenboek van de Meester van Catharina van Kleef A Dutch language site with a complete digital facsimile of a lavish Dutch language book of hours from around 1460. If you don't read Dutch, just click in the obvious places and look at the pictures.
Horae Beatae Mariae ud usum Romanum This site is an ad for a CD-ROM version of a 16th century book of hours in the Library of Congress. You can view images of all of the pages on the web site.
Wycliffite Manuscripts: The New Testament From the same site as the above, as advert for a CD-ROM of an English language Wycliffite Bible, with all pages viewable on the web site.
Maciejowski Bible This site displays miniatures from a famous picture Bible commissioned by Louis IX (1214-1270), with an exotic history. The page design is fairly horrible fantasy medievalia, but the authors have very strong views on open access to treasures which were first reproduced in published form many decades ago.
The Life of Edward the Confessor The Cambridge University Library has produced a study of an Anglo-Norman manuscript in the university library, with scanned images, zoom capability, commentary and introduction.
The Book of Deer This site, sponsored by British Telecom, aims to provide a full presentation of a 10th century illuminated manuscript from northeast Scotland, with some Gaelic segments. It is still under development, but nothing has happened for some time.
Cambridge University Library - Book of Deer Unlike the previous site, this one has images of the complete book and a brief introduction. Fairly small images are available on the web, but if you pop into the library you can see bigger ones.
An Eleventh Century Anglo-Saxon Glossary A highly technical paleographical project on a glossary in a margin of an Anglo-Saxon manuscript in the Royal Library, Brussels. Shows just how intricate paleography can become. This is temporarily offline, but can be found for now in The Internet Archive.
Electronic Beowulf The web site is now basically a help file and advert for the CD-ROM project, but there are a few images and links to online articles.
Documents Online : Domesday Book From the National Archives in London, it is now possible to search for pages in both volumes of Domesday Book by place name,personal name, folio or other criteria. For a modest fee one can download colour pages in PDF format, each with an accompanying translation. There is also background material available on Domesday Book. I hope they have a big server because everybody of English origin will be checking it out!
Avista - Villard de Honnecourt This is the website for the study of the famous manuscript of the mysterious 13th century Villard de Honnecourt and other aspects of medieval science and technology. There are some sample images from his famous notebook of drawings, but unfortunately they are only of moderate quality.
Le CHIENNET Manuscript images, transcriptions with various annotations and modern translations of a 14th century manuscript La Châtelaine de Vergi. The site has evidently disappeared from the live web, but I have dredged it up here from The Internet Archive.
The Cantigas de Santa Maria Facsimiles, illuminations and transcriptions of 13th century Spanish song manuscripts with mostly black and white illustrations but some colour miniatures.
Die Miniaturen der Manesseschen Liederhandschrift Miniatures from an early 14th century manuscript songbook in the University of Heidelberg, depicting famous songwriters in scenes from everyday life. The text is German but the images are universal.
The Voynich Manuscript A project to decipher a mysterious manuscript in the Beinecke Rare Book LIbrary at Yale, which may date from the 13th to the 16th century or may even be a fake, in an unknown language and script. This seems to be a favourite of cryptopaleographers, and if you type "Voynich" into Google you will find some startling things.
The Auchinleck Manuscript Text with search facility, manuscript page facsimiles with zoom facility, notes and bibliographies on a fascinating 14th century manuscript containing poems, romances and various miscellanea, in the National Library of Scotland.
The Augsburg Web Edition of Llull's Electoral Writings Facsimiles, transcriptions and translations of the writings of Ramon Llull (1232-1316) on electoral systems. Paleography meets ecclesiastical politics meets maths! You will need a high-res screen to display the multiple frames.
Anneau Citoyen de Valenciennes This is the web site of the city of Valenciennes, but if you click on the culture link and then on bibliothèque you end up in the library, where there is a little exhibition of the manuscript text of the earliest known French poem, with mouseover transcript and modern French translation. There are also now some other digitised manuscripts online.
The Romaunt of the Rose An English translation of the famous French poem possibly by Geoffrey Chaucer, is available as a pilot manuscript digitisation project from Glasgow University Library.
Rose and Chess The University of Chicago Library has managed to reunite two 13th century manuscripts which were once bound together, one of Le Roman de la Rose and one of Le Jeu des Échecs Moralisé, both moralising texts, one based on the game of chess. There are complete digital facsimiles of both, as well as introductory commentary.
Brut This site contains some scanned images from a 15th century English language version of the Brut Chronicle held in the University of Michigan.
Edward IV Roll An exhibition from the Free Library of Philadelphia on on one of their treasures.
Alfonso X's Book of Games This site has been under construction for a long time now, but aims to show a full set of images of a facsimile edition of a book illustrating games of the past, commissioned between 1251 and 1282 by Alfonso X, King of Leon and Castile.
Reichenau Primer A set of illustrations of pages from a manuscript in insular script from the Benedictine abbey of St Paul in Laventtal. The only further information is one bibliographical reference in German.
The Exeter Anthology of Old English Poetry This is an advert for an electronic edition on CD-ROM of the Exeter Book, produced by Melbourne University. There are a few illustrations of pages and details on the web site. Don't look up the price of the CD-ROM without a stiff drink in your hand! There are also adverts for digital editions of the Caedmon manuscript, The Life of St Wilfrid by Edmer, and a manuscript of the Plays of Terence in the Bodleian Library.
The Wanderer This is an edition of an Anglo-Saxon poem from the Exeter Book with page facsimiles, a running transcription in a separate frame, glossary and translation. Very tricky stuff and indispensable for anyone into Old English paleography (not to mention poetry!). This one is free.
The Physician's Handbook From the Wellcome Library London, a digital reproduction of a 15th century medical and astrological compendium, which also contains a pilgrimage guide to Jerusalem. Large clear images, brief introduction and catalogue record.
Raimundus Lullus Ikonographie A German language site displaying 12 miniatures from a 14th century philosophical manuscript, with commentary.
Lydgate MS: Fall of Princes A site on the restoration of an extremely damaged manuscript of Lydgate's Fall of Princes in the Canadian University of Victoria's library Special Collections Department. There are full page images of 44 folios. A full suite of images is available on CD-ROM.
Aldgate Cartulary From Glasgow University Library, a description and extensive large photographs of pages from an elaborately decorated 15th century cartulary of the Priory of Holy Trinity, Aldgate, London.
Cartulary of Redon Abbey A brief description and a few images from an 11th century cartulary of Redon Abbey in Brittany. A facsimile printed edition has been produced.
The Canterbury "Codex Aureus" Inscription This only has one image, but it is a large and beautiful page with gold headings from an Anglo-Saxon gospel, with transcription and translation of the dedicatory inscription on the page. Gorgeous.
Medieval Manuscript with Glosses This is a single image from a late 13th century medical text with glosses, part of a project called The Media History Project: Timeline.
Chaucer Picture The only visual evidence from the Huntington Library web site that they hold the Ellesmere Chaucer is this single picture of one page of the manuscript, apparently divorced from any links.
Digitale Edition einer komputistichen Sammelhandschrift von 798/805: MS 83 II de Dom- und Diözesanbibliothek Köln The beginnings of a digital edition of a collection of computistical works of mixed authorship with images and transcripts, but only one section is complete.
Ludovicus Corbo: De divi Mathiae regis laudibus rebusque gestis dialogus A facsimile edition of the Corvinian codex (c.1473-75) about the glorious deeds of King Matthias of Hungary. It is a Renaissance manuscript with an Italian author. The site is presented in four languages, including English, and has full page reproductions with transcript and translation into Hungarian.
Freising Manuscripts A digital edition, with images, transcription and translation of the earliest manuscript of the Slovenian culture, a few pages of religious text bound in with some Latin material, from c.1000 AD, now in the Bavarian State Library in Munich. There is an introductory page in English and links to other English language material.
Bratislavsky antifonar II (Hanov kodex) Description (in Slovenian, but also Latin) of a liturgical manuscript, with modest sized photographs of each page.
Gutenberg Digital The Gutenberg Bible from Göttingen on the web. No, not manuscript, but it represents the end of our story. The site also has very high quality images of a manuscript painter's model book and a 15th century German language notarial document.
The Gutenberg Bible at the Ramson Centre Another site with a full set of images and information about a Gutenberg Bible, this time at the University of Texas, with information about the late medieval manuscript Bible tradition.
Galileo Galilei's Notes on Motion A full facsimile of the part of MS Gal. 72 in the Biblioteca Nationale Centrale in Florence which contains drafts written in the hands of Galileo and two of his disciples. OK, so it's not medieval, but fascinating.
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