Harleian Collection

The Harleian Collection is a collection of manuscripts brought together by the British statesman Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (* 1661 † 1724 ) and his son Edward (1689–1741). In addition to the Cotton MSS and the Sloane MSS, the Harley MSS are part of the founding inventory of the British Museum . They were acquired by Parliament in 1753.

The Harleian Collection and the other legacy holdings of the British Museum Library are now part of the British Library, which opened in 1998 . Well-known manuscripts include the Historia Brittonum (Harley 3859), the Harley Latin Gospels (Harley 1775), a gospel book written in Uncial from the 6th century, the Harley gospel book and the trilingual one created at the court of Rogers II in Palermo around 1150 Psalter (Harley 5786). In the left of the three columns is the Greek text in the version of the Septuagint , in the middle the Latin text in the translation of Jerome and in the right column the Arabic translation of the Melchite deacon Abu'l-Fath 'Abdall-h ibn al- Fadl ibn 'Abdall-h al-Mutr-n al-Antaki from Antioch from the 11th century.

Web links

• Harley manuscripts. Presentation of the collection at the British Library
• Medieval Medical Manuscripts in the Harleian Collection. Holdings list of the British Library (PDF, 192 kB)
• The Harley Gospels. British Library: Harley MS 1775
• Harley Trilingual Psalter. British Library: Harley MS 5786