Objects Made by Hand
Manuscripts are hand-written documents ranging from government records, letters, diaries, notebooks (often called commonplace books or miscellanies), drafts of books or literature before being sent to press, drawings for buildings, and any books created prior to printing press option, even though some texts continued to be circulated in manuscript form during the print era. To learn more about manuscript culture, see the brief overview here
Queen Elizabeth's Seal
Note: this is a government document with the Queen's seal intact
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Title page of Miscellany. Copyright: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University Libraries.
Page from the Miscellany. Photo courtesy of Sarah Walcott. Copyright: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University Libraries.
Page from the Miscellany. Photo courtesy of Sarah Walcott. Copyright: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University Libraries.Author: Thomas Trevilian, b. ca. 1548.
Edited by Heather Wolfe from the Folger Shakespeare Library.
The Trevelyon Miscellany of 1608 : a facsimile of Folger Shakespeare Library MS V.b.232
Washington, D.C.: Folger Shakespeare Library; distributed by University of Washington Press, 2007.
Note: this is a facsimile reprint of the original 17th-century miscellany at the Folger Shakespeare Library. Copies such as these enable us to see works without having to travel to Washington, D.C. and also be able to touch the pages without damaging the original.
Description: Little is known about Thomas Trevelyon (also known as Thomas Trevilian), author of the Trevelyon Miscellany of 1608. He is believed to have been born in 1548, although his death date is unknown, and is understood to have been a scribe and patternmaker. The Trevelyon Miscellany is an incredible compilation of ideas and images taken from and inspired by engravings, woodcuts, broadsides, almanacs, and the Bible. It contains five sections which include biblical and English history, geographical information, genealogical information, graphic alphabets, astronomy, and a large section of embroidery patterns. Although the miscellany is extremely varied in its contents, it is clear that Trevelyon worked to impose a sense of order through the use of frames, borders, and chronological depictions of individuals and events. Not long after publishing the Miscellany, Trevelyon compiled some of the same material, along with some new material, into The Great Book of Thomas Trevilian, held by Wormsley Library. The original Miscellany is currently held at the Folger Shakespeare Library. Heather Wolfe, Curator of Manuscripts at the Folger Shakespeare library, edited this 2007 facsimile of the original manuscript, which is one of only 1,000 total copies in print. The work also includes an introduction by Wolfe and indexes by source, images, and subjects. This folio-sized book has 594 pages. -- Sarah Walcott For more information, see the Library of Congress and Folgerpedia
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Horae beatae Mariae Virginis
Other Title: Book of hours
Note: This is a manuscript on vellum executed in the North of France at the beginning of the 15th century, with ornamental initials and borders.
Note: This is a popular Christian devotional text, often illuminated (with images or decoration such as foliation around the margins) and in Latin (official language of Catholicism and scholarship in humanities and science for many centuries) providing the texts to be said at the various hours of the day.
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Author: Sallust (86-34 B.C.)
Bellus Jugurthinum et Catilinarium
Other Title: Bellum Catilinae
Note: this is a 15th century illuminated manuscript that has rubrication (red lettering added), and was written on vellum.
Adoption Price: $500