Calligraphy & Illumination Examples

Period text and translation for a Book of Hours.

Information about manuscripts from Antiquity and the Middle Ages now housed in Switzerland.

A thousand images spanning seven centuries of manuscripts in the Bodleian Library's collection.

Images & Exhibts from Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Columbia University Library Collection.

Images and detailed descriptions of the collection of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts. The descriptions, compiled by several generations of curators, often contain information not available elsewhere, such as complete lists of texts and illustrations within a manuscript and bibliographies.

Treasures from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, including manuscripts from the 8th century to the present.

An online exhibit dedicated to all forms of women in religion from the early Middle Ages until the Reformation in the sixteenth century.

This site provides access to over 80 early manuscripts now in institutions associated with the University of Oxford.

Click on "Recherche" to search for books and manuscripts in the collection of the national library of France.

On-Line Exhibits and Manuscript Images

Illuminated manuscripts (miniatures) from the 12th to 16th centuries from the Web Gallery of Art.

The history of illumination of vellum manuscripts, from classical times down to the decay and virtual disuse of the art which resulted inevitably, though not immediately, from the introduction of printing; describing the main characteristics of the most important periods and schools, and following the development of the successive styles so far as existing materials allow.

This page contains pointers to images from the Book of Kells and to information about the book.

An online book from an exhibit at the Brandeis University Library in conjunction with the Society of Bibliophiles.

The ISOS create's digital images of Irish manuscripts, and to makes these images - together with relevant commentary accessible. Provided by Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, these online images come from the holdings of 5 major Irish Institutions.

If you don't know where to go to find manuscripts - go here. Many sites are listed, not all of the links work all of the time but it's a fantastic resource leading to many other places. Definately worth a browse.

Approximately 2,340 manuscript pages, and associated illuminations, based upon NYPL's contribution of 259 manuscripts to "The Digital Scriptorium," a multi-institutional image database of medieval and renaissance manuscripts.

This website, a collaboration of the Koninklije Bibliotheek (National Library of the Netherlands) and Museum Meermanno, features many illustrations from illuminated manuscripts, searchable by subject matter. This can be searched by looking at the highlights of the collection, by subject, or if you know more details about a specific piece, you can search for it too. Amazing stuff here.

This database contains descriptions of all medieval western manuscripts written in Latin script and produced up to c. 1550 now preserved in public and semi-public collections in the Netherlands. These include the collections of libraries, museums and archives, as well as the collections of monastic orders and some other private institutions that are open to researchers.

An introduction to the history of medieval writing, including the origins of our written culture, paleography and the history of scripts, and the nature of literacy and the written word in the middle ages.

A representative selection of images from some of the most sumptuous manuscripts displayed in the Cambridge Illuminations exhibition, which draws on the collections of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University Library, and many of the Cambridge colleges.

Links to online medieval manuscripts, catalogues, fonts, paleography, and illumination.

A central index for pre-1600 books, both books directly on the web, and information for finding interesting books in libraries.

The Schøyen Collection comprises most types of manuscripts from the whole world spanning over 5000 years. It is the largest private manuscript collection formed in the 20th century.

A searchable collection of thousands of paintings and other artworks, useful for documentation.

An online exposition of Carolingian manuscripts from the eighth and ninth centuries.

Includes: Coronao Missal 16th c and a growing collection of Islamic manuscripts and single sheets. The museum's goal is to offer digital surrogates of the entire collection of Islamic manuscripts and single sheets.

The World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.

The principal objectives of the WDL are to:
Promote international and intercultural understanding;
Expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet;
Provide resources for educators, scholars, and general audiences;
Build capacity in partner institutions to narrow the digital divide within and between countries.

The World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingu al format, significan t primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.