This is an incomplete list of some of the manuscripts from the Cotton library that today form the Cotton collection of the British Library . Some manuscripts were destroyed or damaged in a fire at Ashburnham House in 1731, and a few are kept in other libraries and collections.
15-561: The Ismere Diploma (London, British Library, Cotton Augustus ii. 3) is a charter of 736, in which Aethelbald of Mercia grants ten hides of land near Ismere to Cyneberht, his "venerable companion", for the foundation of a coenubium ( minster ). The charter survives in what is thought to be a contemporary manuscript, now in the British Library . It is written in Latin. The text is written in two different pens. The first pen
30-457: A Vita S. Dunstani signed "B" (first attributed to him by Jean Mabillon ). However, many scholars argue that these works were not written by Byrhtferth, but instead were a compilation of material by several writers in the late ninth and early tenth centuries. This is argued because of the smooth, polished style of these works in comparison with the styles of the only signed works, the Manual and
45-407: A scientific textbook, is Byrhtferth's best known work. He studied with Abbo of Fleury , who was invited to Ramsey Abbey by Oswald of Worcester to help teach. Abbo was there during the period 985 to 987, and became a large influence on Byhrtferth who was interested in the same studies, such as history, logic, astronomy, and mathematics. We do not have contemporary biographies of Byrhtferth, and
60-481: Is an original, and not a copy made later. The charter concerns land on both sides of the River Stour with the wood of Cynibre ( Kinver ) on the north and the wood called Moerheb on the west. The traditional view has that the latter was to interpret Moerheb as Morfe , but this is a geographic impossibility. The wood is more likely to have become Kidderminster Heath. The charter is the earliest mention of
75-645: Is found a pagan Norse charm, invoking the god Thor . fos. 25r–97r. Symeon of Durham , Liber de exordio atque procursu Dunelmensis ecclesiae , including Bede's Death Song fos. 99r–99v, Pseudo-Bede, De Quindecim Signis fos. 99v–102r, Pseudo-Augustine, De Antichristo quomodo et ubi nasci debeat (1) The first and earliest part is the Cotton-Corpus Legendary , a Worcester manuscript (1050 x 1075) which includes Byrhtferth 's Life of Oswald , his Life of Ecgwine and Lantfred of Winchester 's Translatio et Miracula S. Swithuni . (2) In
90-593: Is suggested that he is responsible for the early sections of the Historia regum , or History of the Kings , attributed to Simeon of Durham . This last attribution is based on the similarity of the style between Simeon and Byrhtferth. An unsigned fragment of Old English text on computus in the Manuscript BL Cotton Caligula A.xv is attributed to him because of the stylistic similarity to
105-410: Is used for the charter itself, and also for the first two lines of the witnesses, and then the fourth through tenth lines of the witness list. The remaining lines are written with a thinner pen, though by the same hand that wrote the first lines written. A different scribe added another grant from Aethelbald to Cyneberht on the back. The addition of the later witnesses is an indication that the document
120-567: The Husmerae , a tribe only known from this area. Cotton Augustus Robert Bruce Cotton organized his library in a room 26 feet (7.9 m) long by six feet wide filled with bookpresses , each with the bust of a figure from classical antiquity on top. Counterclockwise, these were Julius Caesar , Augustus , Cleopatra , Faustina , Tiberius , Caligula , Claudius , Nero , Galba , Otho , Vitellius , Vespasian , Titus , and Domitian . (Domitian had only one shelf, perhaps because it
135-603: The Old English that he wrote in the Manual . Cyril Roy Hart also tentatively identifies him as the author of the verse Menologium preserved as a preface to a manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , although Kazutomo Karasawa believes it more likely to have been written by an older contemporary. Byrhtferth has also been credited with Latin commentaries on Bede 's De natura rerum and De temporum ratione (first attributed to him by John Herwagen) and
150-557: The manuscript of Pearl is Cotton MS Nero A.x . (1) fos. 3-117, 8th and 9th-century material from France, which had arrived in England by the 9th or 10th century (2) fos. 120–53, once part of BL Egerton 3314, belonging to the 11th century. It consists of two parts: fos. 120–41, part A, computistical texts; annals of Christ Church, Canterbury ; Old English and Latin prognostications and charms fos. 142–53, excerpts from Bede , De temporibus anni , with additional notes. At f. 123v
165-515: The only information we have is that given in his Manual and his Preface . Byrhtferth's signature appears on only two unpublished works, his Latin and Old English Manual , and Latin Preface . He also composed a Latin life of St. Egwin , compiled a chronicle of Northumbrian history in the 990s, wrote a Latin life of Oswald of Worcester (the Vita Oswaldi ) about the year 1000, and it
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#1732772326976180-691: The second part, various texts with dates ranging between the 10th and 13th century are bound together. These include the Oswald Cartulary and IV Edgar (a law-code belonging to King Edgar , r. 959–975). Folios 182 and 183 of Cotton Nero E.i, pt.2 (Worcester cartulary), are now bound separately as London, BL, MS. Add. 46204. Old English Lapidary Item 1 – Worcester Chronicle ( Anglo-Saxon Chronicle D) includes Anglian collection of royal genealogies and Anglo-Saxon Cotton world map Byrhtferth Byrhtferth ( Old English : Byrhtferð ; c. 970 – c. 1020 )
195-461: The shelf letter was left out of the press-mark. The British Museum retained Cotton's press-marks when the Cotton collection became one of the foundational collections of its library, so manuscripts are still designated by library, bookpress, shelf, and number (even though they are no longer stored in that fashion). For example, the manuscript of Beowulf is designated Cotton MS Vitellius A.xv , and
210-494: Was a priest and monk who lived at Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire (now part of Cambridgeshire ) in England. He had a deep impact on the intellectual life of later Anglo-Saxon England and wrote many computistic , hagiographic , and historical works. He was a leading man of science and best known as the author of many different works (although he may not have written many of them). His Manual ( Enchiridion ),
225-569: Was over the door). In each press, each shelf was assigned a letter; manuscripts were identified by the bust over the press, the shelf letter, and the position of the manuscript (in Roman numerals) counting from the left side of the shelf. Thus, the Lindisfarne Gospels, Nero B.iv, was the fourth manuscript from the left on the second shelf (shelf B) of the press under the bust of Nero. For Domitian and Augustus, which had only one shelf each,
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