A manuscript was, traditionally, any document that is written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten — as opposed to being mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has come to be understood to further include any written, typed, or word-processed copy of an author's work, as distinguished from its rendition as a printed version of the same. Before the arrival of printing, all documents and books were manuscripts. Manuscripts are not defined by their contents, which may combine writing with mathematical calculations, maps, music notation, explanatory figures or illustrations.
The FirstBible of Charles the Bald, also known as the Vivian Bible, is a Carolingian-era Bible commissioned by Count Vivian of Tours in 845, the lay abbot of Saint-Martin de Tours, and presented to Charles the Bald in 846 on a visit to the church, as shown in the presentation miniature at the end of the book. It is 495 mm by 345 mm and has 423 vellum folia.
The Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram is a 9th-century illuminated Gospel Book. It is named after Emmeram of Regensburg and lavishly illuminated. The cover of the codex is decorated with gems and relief figures in gold, and can be precisely dated to 870, and is an important example of Carolingian art, as well of one of very few surviving treasure bindings of this date. The upper cover of the Lindau Gospels is probably a product of the same workshop, though there are differences of style. This workshop is associated with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles II, and often called his "Palace School". Its location remains uncertain and much discussed, but Saint-Denis Abbey outside Paris is one leading possibility. The Arnulf Ciborium, now in the Munich Residenz, is the third major work in the group, along with the frame of an antique serpentine dish in the Louvre. Recent scholars tend to group the Lindau Gospels and the Arnulf Ciborium in closer relation to each other than the Codex Aureus to either.
The Irish Gospels of St. Gall or Codex Sangallensis 51 is an 8th-century Insular Gospel Book, written either in Ireland or by Irish monks in the Abbey of St. Gall in Switzerland, where it is now in the Abbey library of St. Gallen as MS 51. It has 134 folios. Amongst its 11 illustrated pages are a Crucifixion, a Last Judgement, a Chi Rho monogram page, a carpet page, and Evangelist portraits.
The Vergilius Vaticanus, also known as Vatican Virgil, is a Late Antique illuminated manuscript containing fragments of Virgil's Aeneid and Georgics. It was made in Rome in around 400 C.E., and is one of the oldest surviving sources for the text of the Aeneid. It is the oldest and one of only three ancient illustrated manuscripts of classical literature.
The Vergilius Augusteus is a manuscript from late antiquity, containing the works of the Roman author Virgil, written probably around the 4th century. There are two other collections of Virgil manuscripts, the Vergilius Vaticanus and the Vergilius Romanus. They are early examples of illuminated manuscripts; the Augusteus is not illuminated but has decorated initial letters at the top of each page. These letters do not mark divisions of the text, but rather are used at the beginning of whatever line happened to fall at the top of the page. These decorated initials are the earliest surviving such initials.
The Godescalc Evangelistary, Godescalc Sacramentary, Godescalc Gospels, or Godescalc Gospel Lectionary is an illuminated manuscript in Latin made by the Frankish scribe Godescalc and today kept in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. It was commissioned by the Carolingian king Charlemagne and his wife Hildegard on October 7, 781 and completed on April 30, 783. The Evangelistary is the earliest known manuscript produced at the scriptorium in Charlemagne's Court School in Aachen. The manuscript was intended to commemorate Charlemagne's march to Italy, his meeting with Pope Adrian I, and the baptism of his son Pepin. The crediting of the work to Godescalc and the details of Charlemagne's march are contained in the manuscript's dedication poem.
Carolingian art comes from the Frankish Empire in the period of roughly 120 years from about 780 to 900—during the reign of Charlemagne and his immediate heirs—popularly known as the Carolingian Renaissance. The art was produced by and for the court circle and a group of important monasteries under Imperial patronage; survivals from outside this charmed circle show a considerable drop in quality of workmanship and sophistication of design. The art was produced in several centres in what are now France, Germany, Austria, northern Italy and the Low Countries, and received considerable influence, via continental mission centres, from the Insular art of the British Isles, as well as a number of Byzantine artists who appear to have been resident in Carolingian centres.
The La Cava Bible or Codex Cavensis is a 9th-century Latin illuminated Bible, which was produced in Spain, probably in the Kingdom of Asturias during the reign of Alfonso II. The manuscript is preserved at the abbey of La Trinità della Cava, near Cava de' Tirreni in Campania, Italy, and contains 330 vellum folios which measure 320 by 260 mm.
The Evangeliary or Book of the Gospels is a liturgical book containing only those portions of the four gospels which are read during Mass or in other public offices of the Church. The corresponding terms in Latin are Evangeliarium and Liber evangeliorum.
A tonary is a liturgical book in the Western Christian Church which lists by incipit various items of Gregorian chant according to the Gregorian mode (tonus) of their melodies within the eight-mode system. Tonaries often include Office antiphons, the mode of which determines the recitation formula for the accompanying text, but a tonary may also or instead list responsories or Mass chants not associated with formulaic recitation. Although some tonaries are stand-alone works, they were frequently used as an appendix to other liturgical books such as antiphonaries, graduals, tropers, and prosers, and are often included in collections of musical treatises.
The Gospels of Otto III is considered a superb example of Ottonian art because of the scope, planning, and execution of the work. The book has 276 parchment pages and has twelve canon tables, a double page portrait of Otto III, portraits of the four evangelists, and 29 full page miniatures illustrating scenes from the New Testament. The cover is the original, with a tenth-century carved Byzantine ivory inlay representing the Dormition of the Virgin. Produced at the monastery at Reichenau Abbey in about 1000 CE., the manuscript is an example of the highest quality work that was produced over 150 years at the monastery.
Lectionary 117, designated by siglum ℓ117 is a Greek manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment leaves. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 11th century.
Minuscule 697, ε1389, is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 13th century. The manuscript has complex contents. Scrivener labelled it as 601e.
The Aachen Gospels are a Carolingian illuminated manuscript which was created at the beginning of the ninth century by a member of the Ada School. The Evangeliary belongs to a manuscript group which is referred to as the Ada Group or Group of the Vienna Coronation Gospels. It is part of the church treasury of Charlemagne's Palatine Chapel, now Aachen Cathedral, and is today kept in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury. The Treasury Gospels and the more recent Ottonian Liuthar Gospels are the two most significant medieval manuscripts on display there.
The Seeon Evangeliary or Evangeliary of Henry II is an evangeliary created at Seeon Abbey between 1002 and 1014. Today it is kept in the Bamberg State Library under the record number Msc. Bibl. 95)
In Muslim tradition the Quran is a final revelation from God, Islam’s divine text, delivered to the Prophet of Islam Muhammad, through the angel Jibril (Gabriel). Muhammad’s revelations were said to have been recorded orally and in writing, through Muhammad and his followers up until his death in 632, and then compiled by first caliph Abu Bakr and codified during the reign of the third caliph Uthman so that the standard codex edition of the Quran or "Muṣḥaf" was completed around 650 CE, according to Muslim scholars. However, some Western scholars have questioned this, suggesting the Quran was canonized at a later date, based on the fact that the classical Islamic narratives were written generations—150 to 200 years—after the death of Muhammad.
The Codex Wittekindeus is a 128-folio illuminated Gospel Book, produced in Fulda Abbey in Germany around 970–980. Alongside the Gero Codex, the Codex Wittekindeus is considered one of the two "greatest works in the initial Ottonian revival of book-illumination".
The Gregorian Sacramentary is a 10th-century illuminated Latin manuscript containing a sacramentary. Since the 16th century it has been in the Vatican Library as Lat. 3806.
The Evangelium longum is an illuminated manuscript evangeliary that was made around 894 at the Abbey of Saint Gall in Switzerland.
