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Twenty seven manuscripts collected by Richard Rawlinson

 Collection

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Twenty seven manuscripts collected by Richard Rawlinson, 12th-18th century.

Dates

  • Creation: 12th-18th century

Extent

2.97 Linear metres (27 boxes)

Language of Materials

  • English
  • Latin
  • Greek, Ancient (to 1453)
  • Scots
  • French, Old (842-ca.1400)
  • French
  • Hebrew
  • Persian

Preferred Citation

Oxford, Bodleian Libraries [followed by shelfmark and folio or page reference, e.g. 4° Z. 74 Jur; Bodl. Or. 17; MS. Add. C. 40].

Please see our help page for further guidance on citing archives and manuscripts.

Full range of shelfmarks:

4° Z. 74 Jur; MSS. Add. C. 40, C. 232; Add. D. 94-96; Auct. D. 4. 23; Bodl. 165-166; Carte 280-288; Rawl. Q. b. 6-7; Rawl. Q. c. 13-14; Rawl. Q. e. 34; Rawl. Q. f. 8; Rawl. liturg. g. 13; Rawlinson Or. 59*; Bodl. Or. 17

Collection ID (for staff)

CMD ID 18771

Abstract

Manuscripts collected by Richard Rawlinson, 12th-18th century.

Biographical / Historical

Richard Rawlinson was born on 3 January 1690 and died on 6 April 1755. His father, Sir Thomas Rawlinson, was a wine merchant, and lord mayor of London in 1706. After being educated at St. Paul's school and Eton, Rawlinson matriculated at St. John's college, Oxford, as a gentleman commoner on 9 March 1708, and proceeded BA in 1711, MA in 1713, receiving the honorary degree of DCL in 1719. He was FRS and FSA, and a Bishop among the Nonjurors (1728). In 1719-26 he travelled in Holland, France, Germany and Italy, gradually amassing a foreign, classical and English library, as well as coins; and few book sales between 1715 and 1755 took place in London without contributing both manuscripts and printed books to his collection. When his elder brother Thomas, who was also a great book collector, died in 1726, Rawlinson catalogued his manuscripts, and at the sale in 1734 secured a large proportion of them, including Oriental volumes. In 1750 Rawlinson founded an Anglo-Saxon Professorship at Oxford. Further details are given in the Dictionary of National Biography.

Other Finding Aids

Falconer Madan, et al., A summary catalogue of western manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford which have not hitherto been catalogued in the Quarto series (7 vols. in 8 [vol. II in 2 parts], Oxford, 1895-1953; reprinted, with corrections in vols. I and VII, Munich, 1980), vol. V, nos. 27836-27862.

Our best descriptions for medieval items in this collection are in Medieval Manuscripts in Oxford Libraries under MSS. Rawl. Q. (Rawlinson Q), MSS. Rawl. liturg. (Rawlinson liturgical).

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The manuscripts were either included in Richard Rawlinson's bequest or possibly in some cases given during his lifetime. They were all in the Library by 1756.

Related Materials

The bulk of the collection of Rawlinson Manuscripts are:

  1. 4o Rawl. 39, 41-44, 118, 145, 201-202, 204, 245, 263, 323, 335, 550, 582;
  2. 8o Rawl. 57, 135, 196, 280, 300, 401, 426, 429, 451, 470, 510, 570, 576, 578, 582, 584-585, 588, 594-595, 614, 621, 629, 645-646, 662, 681, 1047, 1052, 1064, 1079, 1093, 1095-1097, 1102-1103, 1105-1108;
  3. MSS. Hearne's diaries 1-192;
  4. MSS. Rawl. A. 1-499;
  5. MSS. Rawl. B. 2-36, B. 38-366, B. 368-520;
  6. MSS. Rawl. C. 1-412, C. 414-418, C. 420-978, C. 980-989;
  7. MSS. Rawl. D. 1-366, D. 368-401, D. 403-943, D. 945-1037, D. 1039-1374, D. 1376-1417, D. 1419-1481, D. 1483-1486, D. 1488-1511, D. 1514-1516;
  8. MSS. Rawl. E. 1-206, E. 208-219, E. 221-261;
  9. MSS. Rawl. Essex 1-30;
  10. MSS. Rawl. G. 2-199;
  11. MSS. Rawl. I. 1-8, I. 10-11;
  12. MSS. Rawl. J. fol. 1-33, Rawl. J. 4o 1-38, Rawl. J 8o 1-18;
  13. MSS. Rawl. letters 1-138;
  14. MSS. Rawl. liturg. b. 1, c. 1, c. 3, d. 1-6, e. 1*, e. 2-13, e. 15-25, e. 27-29, e. 31-34, e. 36-47, f. 1-13, f. 16-39, g. 1-11;
  15. MSS. Rawl. N. 1-14;
  16. MSS. Rawl. poet. 1-242, 244-246;
  17. MSS. Rawl. Q. b. 1-5, Rawl. Q. c. 1-12, Rawl. Q. d. 1-12, 14-19, Rawl. Q. e. 1-33, Rawl. Q. f. 1-6, Rawl. Q. g. 1;
  18. MSS. Rawl. statutes 2-19, 21-57, 59-65;
  19. MSS. Smith 1-86, 88-125, 127-134, 136, 138-140, 142-143.
Title
Twenty seven manuscripts collected by Richard Rawlinson
Status
Published
Author
EAD version 2020 by Pauline Soum-Paris
Date
EAD version 2020
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository

Contact:
Weston Library
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Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom