Collections of the British Library
The collections of the British Library, a research library in London, include items from across the world and from throughout human history.
1300 BC – 500 AD
- More than 450 Chinese oracle bones from the Shang dynasty, the oldest artefacts in the British Library
- Constitution of Athenians, papyrus work describing the constitution of Classical Athens by Aristotle or one of his pupils, from Hermopolis, Egypt
- Seven fragmented scrolls from the Herculaneum papyri that survived the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius,
- De bellis macedonicis, fragment of a Latin Codex recording the Macedonian Wars in an early form of uncial script
- Early manuscript copies of the ancient Greek plays Ichneutae by Sophocles and Iliad by Homer, part of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri
- Gandhāran Buddhist texts, some of the oldest Buddhist manuscripts yet discovered
- Bankes Homer, one of the longest and best preserved papyri of Homer's literary works surviving from antiquity, containing the bulk of the text of the final book of the Iliad
- Egerton Gospel, one of the two earliest preserved papyrus witnesses to the Christian gospel tradition
- Sixty-six Indian charters on copper plates, including those from Chamak and two similar groups of plates from Java,
- Fragments of the Spitzer Manuscript, the oldest surviving manuscript in Sanskrit discovered so far, from the Kizil Caves, China
- Gospel of John Papyrus, early copy of the Gospel according to John from the New Testament, discovered in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt
- Sogdian Ancient Letters, the earliest substantial texts written in Sogdian, the language formerly spoken in the area around Samarkand in present-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan
- Codex Sinaiticus, the major portion of the world's second-oldest manuscript of the Bible in koine Greek
- Letters of Cyprian, three fragments from St Cyprian's epistles in uncial script, part of a Latin Codex from Carthage, north Africa
- Codex Alexandrinus, early manuscript of the Greek Bible containing the majority of the Old Testament and New Testament and one of the four Great uncial codices
- Jacob Manuscript, the second oldest extant Syriac manuscript and the oldest codex bearing a date in any language, handwritten by the scribe Jacob
- Curetonian Gospels, manuscript of the four gospels of the New Testament in Old Syriac
- Fragments of the Cotton Genesis, luxury illuminated manuscript copy of the Book of Genesis and one of the oldest illustrated biblical codices to survive to the modern period
- Leaf from the Codex Palatinus, Latin Gospel Book written on purple dyed vellum in gold and silver ink
- Maunggun gold plates, two gold strips found at Maunggun near Sri Ksetra, inscribed in the ancient Pyu script and among the earliest Buddhist texts discovered in Myanmar, donated by Sir Frederick Fryer, Lieutenant-Governor of Burma
- Seven folios of a manuscript containing the Sanskrit text of the Lotus Sutra in Sharada script from Gilgit, the earliest paper manuscript from South Asia
- Earliest Syriac manuscript with the complete Peshitta text of the New Testament
500–800 AD
- Earliest dated Syriac manuscript of the two Gospels and the Peshitta Apostolos, Syriac manuscripts of the Peshitta or Syriac Bible
- Codex Harleianus or Harley Latin Gospels, one of the earliest manuscripts of the Gospels in Latin, Italy
- Codex Nitriensis, Greek New Testament codex containing the Gospel of Luke from the Monastery of St. Mary Deipara in the Nitrian Desert, Egypt
- Ravenna Papyrus, 2.5m long papyrus scroll in Latin cursive script with contract for the sale of a property in Ravenna, Italy
- Four leaves from the Codex Purpureus Petropolitanus, a Greek manuscript of the Gospels written on purple parchment in silver and gold ink
- Golden Cannon Tables, Byzantine illuminated Gospel made in Constantinople before the Iconoclasm period
- Dunhuang Go Manual, the earliest surviving manuscript on the strategic board game of Go from Dunhuang, China
- Askew Codex, unique manuscript in the Coptic script, one of three surviving codices containing full copies of all of the gnostic writings
- Three folios from the Uncial 070, a Greek-Coptic diglot uncial manuscript of the New Testament from the White Monastery in Egypt
- Manuscript copies of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra in the Chinese and Tibetan languages from Dunhuang in China
- Ceolfrid Bible, fragment of one of the three single-volume Bibles ordered by Ceolfrid and closely related to the Codex Amiatinus
- Dunhuang Star Chart, one of the first known graphical representations of stars from ancient Chinese astronomy
- Lindisfarne Gospels, illuminated Latin Gospel book from Anglo-Saxon Northumbria, one of the finest examples of Hiberno-Saxon or Insular art
- Royal Athelstan Gospels, Anglo-Saxon illuminated Gospel Book with Merovingian decoration, closely related to the Lindisfarne Gospels
- St Cuthbert Gospel, a Northumbrian gospel book with the oldest Western binding
- Codex Beneventanus, illuminated codex containing a Gospel Book for the Monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno near Benevento, Italy
- Hyakumantō Darani or the "One Million Pagodas and Dharani Prayers", the earliest surviving examples of printing in Japan
- Tiberius Bede, illuminated manuscript of Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, produced at Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey
- Otho-Corpus Gospels, fragments of an insular Gospel Book, the best preserved page representing an Evangelist portrait of the Lion of Saint Mark
- Vespasian Psalter, Anglo-Saxon illuminated psalter decorated in Insular style, belonging to a group of manuscripts from southern England known as the Tiberius group, which includes the Tiberius Bede and the Book of Nunnaminster
- London Gospel Book, illuminated Pocket Book of the Four Gospels with Evangelist portraits, made in Ireland with later Anglo-Saxon additions
- Moralia in Job by St Gregory, and Theological Works of St Augustine of Hippo, St Jerome and Commodianus, two theological manuscripts produced in Laon, France and Nonantola Italy respectively
- Mozarabic Chronicle, Visigothic minuscule written by Mozarab chronicler in Al-Andalus, with the earliest known reference in Latin to "Europeans"
- One of the oldest and most complete surviving Qur'an codices in the world, produced in the Hijazi script in the Hijaz region of Arabia where the holy places of Mecca and Medina are.
800–1000 AD
- Schuttern Gospels, an early illuminated gospel book produced in Baden, Germany
- Aethelstan Psalter, small book of psalms made near Reims, once owned by King Æthelstan of Wessex and given by him to Winchester Cathedral
- Durham Liber Vitae, confraternity book, recording the names of visitors to the church of the bishopric of Durham, and its predecessor sees at Lindisfarne and Chester-le-Street
- Harley Golden Gospels, Carolingian illuminated manuscript written in gold ink, produced in Aachen, Germany
- Earliest surviving copy of Vitruvius's De architectura, Carolingian manuscript made at the scriptorium attached to the court of Charlemagne in Aachen, Germany
- Old Tibetan Annals, the earliest surviving historical document in Old Tibetan, covering the period from 643 to 764 AD
- Harley Aratea, Carolingian copy of Phaenomena Aratea by the Greek poet Aratus, with 22 full-page representations of the constellations in text or scholia within the shapes, from Rheims, France
- Fridugisus Gospel Book, illuminated Carolingian Latin Gospel Book produced at Tours under the abbacy of Fridugisus with original treasure binding
- Bible from Moutier-Grandval Abbey, one of three illustrated bibles containing the text of the Vulgate made at the scriptorium of Tours in the ninth century, France
- Lothair Psalter, sumptuous Carolingian manuscript with original binding furnishing a large silver-gilt medallion of the Emperor Lothair I
- An early copy of the Qur'an in Kufic script, with beginnings of elements of Arabic illumination and decoration, possibly from al-Kufah, Iraq
- Diamond Sutra, the world's earliest-dated printed book printed during the Tang dynasty
- Codex Ulmensis, manuscript in Caroline minuscule containing the Epistles and Revelation, produced at the monastic centre under Abbot Harmut in St Gallen, Switzerland
- Bodmin Gospels, illuminated gospel-book copied in Brittany and owned by the Priory of St Petroc in Bodmin, Cornwall, with recording of the freeing of slaves entered on some pages
- Anglo-Saxon copy of Orosius's Historiae Adversus Paganos with enlarged zoomorphic initials, produced at the scriptorium in Winchester Cathedral, England
- Marmoutiers Gospel Book, illuminated manuscript mixing Insular and Carolingian styles produced in Brittany or Tours, western France
- Codex Seidelianus I, Greek uncial manuscript of the Gospels containing 252 parchment leaves
- Irq Bitig or Book of Omens from the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, China, the only known complete manuscript text written in the Old Turkic script
- Gospels of Elisha, Armenian gospels commissioned by Lord Elisha, one of the earliest gospels written in the Armenian language
- Coronation Gospels, Ottonian illuminated Gospel book gifted to King Athelstan
- Testament of Ba, manuscript written in Old Tibetan marking the establishment of Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet and the foundation of the Samye Monastery during the reign of King Trisong Detsen
- Passionarium Hispanicum, illuminated Passional manuscript in Visigothic minuscule from the Monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña near Burgos, northern Spain,
- Guest-Coutts New Testament, Byzantine illuminated manuscript of the New Testament in Greek, with silver-gilt cover, Constantinople
- Bald's Leechbook or Medicinale Anglicum, unique Anglo-Saxon manuscript pertaining to medical remedies, diagnoses and charms
- Benedictional of St. Æthelwold, the most important surviving work of the Anglo-Saxon Winchester School of illumination
- New Minster Charter, Anglo-Saxon illuminated manuscript with gold lettering, commissioned by Bishop Æthelwold and presented to the New Minster in Winchester by King Edgar to commemorate the Benedictine Reform
- Lei feng ta scroll, early printed document found walled up in the Leifeng Pagoda in Hangzhou, China
- Ramsey Psalter, Anglo-Saxon illuminated psalter made for use at the Benedictine monastery of Ramsey Abbey for its founder St Oswald
- Bosworth Psalter, oldest English manuscript that includes all of the important texts of the Benedictine Office, from Bosworth Hall, Leicestershire
- The sole surviving manuscript copy of the poem Beowulf, one of four extant Anglo-Saxon poetry manuscripts
- London Codex and First Gaster Bible: two of the oldest surviving Hebrew biblical codices, Palestine and Egypt
- Xuastvanift, a confessional book of Manichaean Uyghurs, one of the most complete manuscripts among the Old Uyghur Manichaean texts