In the library of Archbishop James Ussher (d.1656), which was to become the foundation of our manuscripts collection, was an impressive variety of manuscripts containing Middle English and some Old English. Summarily catalogued in the last century, they have now been definitively described in a newly published catalogue by emeritus professor John Scattergood, with the assistance of Dr Niamh Pattwell and Emma Williams. To mark the publication the Library, with the Manuscript, Book, and Print Culture Research Theme in the Long Room Hub Trinity’s institute for arts and humanities, has organized a round-table discussion of some of the highlights of the collection to be hosted by the Hub. Professor Scattergood has also provided today’s guest post, surveying some of the most significant items with which he has dealt in his catalogue:
Continue reading “‘Of making many books there is no end’: a new catalogue of Middle English manuscripts”‘Of making many books there is no end’: a new catalogue of Middle English manuscripts
