English Apocalypse manuscripts


Illustrated Apocalypse manuscripts are manuscripts that contain the text of Revelation or a commentary on Revelation and also illustrations. Most of these Apocalypses were written between 1250 and 1400. The English Apocalypses are part of a larger group of Apocalypses called: the Anglo-Norman Apocalypses.
These manuscripts can be divided by the language and form of the Apocalypse text. Many manuscripts have a Latin text, others have an Anglo-Norman prose text and others have a French verse text combined with a Latin text. Two manuscripts do not have a separate text, but incorporate excerpts from the text into the illustrations.
The illustrations can be divided into several iconographic groups.
Paul Meyer and Léopold Delisle, in their book L'Apocalypse en français au XIIIe siècle , 2 vols., Paris, 1901, were the first scholars to try to list, describe and categorize the Apocalypse manuscripts.
M. R. James also wrote about illustrated Apocalypse manuscripts in his book The Apocalypse in Art, London, 1931.
Since M. R. James' work, there have been a number of more recent studies by R. Freyhan, George Henderson, Peter Klein, Suzanne Lewis, Nigel Morgan and Lucy Sandler.

list of known English Apocalypse manuscripts

This is a not exhaustive list of known English Apocalypse manuscripts of the 13th and 14th centuries.
  • Berlin, Kupferstichkabinet Blatt Inv. No. 1247
  • Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale MS II.282
  • Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 20: origin unknown
  • Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 394
  • Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum MS Add. 317
  • Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum MS McClean 123
  • Cambridge, Magdelene College MS F.4.5
  • Cambridge, Magdelene College MS Pepys 1803 : origin unknown
  • Cambridge, Trinity College MS B.10.2
  • Cambridge, Trinity College MS B.10.6: origin unknown
  • Cambridge, Trinity College MS R.16.2 : origin unknown
  • Cambridge, University Library MS Gg 1.1
  • Copenhagen, Kongelige Bibliothek MS Thott 89.4
  • Dublin, Trinity College MS 64
  • Eton College Library MS 177
  • Lisbon, Gulbenkian Museum MS LA139
  • London, British Library Add MS 18633
  • London, British Library Add MS 35166
  • London, British Library Add MS 38842
  • London, British Library Add MS 42555
  • London, British Library Royal MS 15 D II
  • London, British Library Royal MS 19 B XV
  • London, British Library Royal MS 2 D XIII
  • London, Lambeth Palace Library MS 209
  • London, Lambeth Palace Library MS 434
  • London, Lambeth Palace Library MS 75
  • Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum MS Ludwig III.1
  • Metz, Bibliothèque Municipale MS Salis 38
  • Moscow, State Lenin Library MS NH.1678
  • New York, Morgan Library 7 Museum MS M.524
  • New York, Public Library MS Spencer 57
  • Norwich, Central Library MS 287
  • Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Ashmole 753
  • Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Auct D.4.14
  • Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Auct D.4.17
  • Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Bodley 401
  • Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Canonici Bibl.62
  • Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Douce 180
  • Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Selden Supra 38
  • Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Tanner 184
  • Oxford, Lincoln College MS lat.16
  • Oxford, New College MS D.65
  • Oxford, University College MS 100
  • Paris, Bibliothèque de Arsenal MS 5214
  • Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France MS fr.403
  • Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France MS fr.9574
  • Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France MS lat.10474
  • Toulouse, Bibliothèque Municipale MS 815
  • Yorkshire Apocalypse, private collection