Published by Primary Source Microfilm

This eminently useful collection offers 308 well-preserved manuscripts from the medieval college library at Pembroke College in Cambridge, England. Featured are 100 volumes formerly in the Library of The Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds--one of medieval England's leading centers of learning. Received in 1599 by Pembroke College, they are by far the greatest surviving nucleus of any of the famed monastic libraries. Many more high-quality volumes from Christ Church, Canterbury, Buildwas, Shropshire and Reading Abbey are included, as well as personal donations by Lancelot Andrewes, Edmund Boldero and William Mundy.

Matthew Wren cataloged the pre-Reformation material (800-1500) in 1617, and the collection has remained virtually intact since that time. Many of the manuscripts are practical and prosaic in nature, offering direct insight into the culture, literary endeavor, spiritual views, worldviews and social history of the period.

Authors represented include Ambrose, Anselm, Aquinas, Augustine, Bede, Bernard, Bonaventure, Cato, Gregory, Hieronymus, Hugo, Isidore, Justinian, Juvenal and Peter Lombard. The manuscripts date from the early 9th century to the 14th century with a significant number from the 12th century. Particularly noteworthy are an early 9th-century text of Bede on the Temple of Solomon and a finely illustrated New Testament dating from the 11th century.

Complete collection: 114 reels

Part One: MSS 1-56 including the Bury St. Edmunds Manuscripts
20 reels

Part Two: MSS 121-120
19 reels

Part Three: MSS 121-175
24 reels

Part Four: MSS 176-240
24 reels

Part Five:MSS 241-308
27 reels