Description | Literary Manuscripts is a long-established class of manuscript books catalogued by Rev H.J. Todd in 1802 and again by C.E. Woodruff. Woodruff's catalogue was published in 1911 by Cross and Jackman of Canterbury as 'A catalogue of the manuscript books in the library of Christ Church Canterbury'. In 2004 the text of this catalogue was revised, with Woodruff's text edited, and information supplied from N R Ker, Medieval Mansucripts in British Libraries, vol 11 (Oxford, 1977), in which many of the items in this series are described. For the original catalogue, see DCc-LA/4/14. Some 20 items formed part of the medieval priory library, with another 6 coming from the medieval libray of St Augustine's abbey, and some from other houses. Nineteen formed the collection of William Somner, an eminent Canterbury figure of the middle of the seventeenth century. Some are administrative records, and others, such as a rental for Worcester cathedral, may have strayed here in the redistribution of ecclesiastical archives at the Restoration. Somner's volumes were purchased by the Dean and Chapter from Somner's widow in 1669, for £100. |