Vernon Manuscript
The Vernon Manuscript (Bodleian Library MS. Eng. Poet. A. 1) is a medieval English manuscript, written in the dialect spoken in the English West Midlands around 1400, that is now in the Bodleian Library, to whom it was presented around 1677 by Colonel Edward Vernon.
Also recorded as MSS Vernon · Vernon MS
Vernon Manuscript
Anonymous Unknown author · Public domain
- Name
- Vernon Manuscript
- Date
- 1390
- Language
- Middle English
- Material
- parchment
- Held by
- Bodleian Library
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
The Vernon Manuscript (Bodleian Library MS. Eng. Poet. A. 1) is a medieval English manuscript, written in the dialect spoken in the English West Midlands around 1400, that is now in the Bodleian Library, to whom it was presented around 1677 by Colonel Edward Vernon.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q7922182 · wikipedia · Vernon Manuscript
In this article
The object
The object
It has been described as "the biggest and most important surviving late medieval English manuscript" and "one of the Bodleian Library’s greatest treasures". The manuscript is lavishly illustrated and decorated, and includes 370 poetry and prose texts on moral or religious subjects, intended to be read by the pious. It has over 700 pages and weighs 22 kg. The Bodleian Library estimates that the manuscript was compiled around the final decade of the fourteenth century. An online exhibition of the manuscript is curated by Professor Wendy Scase of the University of Birmingham. A facsimile and transcription are available commercially.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Vernon Manuscript • Location — Bodleian Library • Date — c. 1400 • Language S — Middle English
Identification
Identification
The following is established of the heading itself. Institutional cataloguing adds that vernon Manuscript is recorded from 1390.
Catalogued output
Editions, states and variants
The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count. Cases argued and adjudged in the High Court of Chancery Published from the Manuscripts of Thomas Vernon, Late of the Middle Temple, Esq; By order of the High Court of Chancery.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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