Medieval Latin Manuscripts
MS 53 fol 7v: 12th-century New Testament.
Trinity College Library holds an exceptional collection of medieval manuscripts written in Latin, Irish, French, German, Italian, Greek, Icelandic and Middle English.
The Library’s Latin manuscripts comprise around 450 separately numbered items and are especially rich in historical and theological texts. The medieval codices for which the Library is best known are the Book of Kells (MS 58, c. 800 AD) the Book of Durrow (MS 57, c. 700 AD), and the Book of Armagh (MS 52, c. 807 AD). These and other Gospel manuscripts of the period, including the so-called "Codex Usserianus Primus", (MS 55, ?5th century), the Book of Dimma and the Book of Mulling (both 8th century AD) form part of the changing exhibition in the Old Library.
Other celebrated manuscripts in the collection include:
- MS 81: the Fagel Missal produced by the nuns of Delft in AD 1459-1460
- MS 53: a 12th-century New Testament and Psalter from Winchcombe Abbey in England
- MS 177: a life of St Alban written and decorated by the great 13th-century English historian and artist Matthew Paris
Catalogues and Bibliography
Catalogues for individual collections are available in the reading room of Manuscripts & Archives.
M.L. Colker, Trinity College Library Dublin: Descriptive Catalogue of the Mediaeval and Renaissance Latin Manuscripts (Aldershot: published for the Library of Trinity College Dublin by Scolar Press, 1991)
M.L. Colker, Trinity College Library Dublin: Descriptive Catalogue of the Mediaeval and Renaisance Latin Manuscripts. Supplement One (Dublin: published for the Library of Trinity College Dublin by Four Courts Press, 2008)