Until 1700, the College possessed only fifty manuscripts. The earliest given by the founders, and others presented or bequeathed by fellows of the College. Most of these are, as the Statutes required, listed in the Benefactors' Register (MS 424), their previous ownership evident from the inscriptions in the books themselves.
In 1786 Luttrell Wynne gave over a hundred volumes of parliamentary journals, state and other papers; these came from collections amassed by Narcissus Luttrell and Owen Wynne; and in 1851 Lady Laura Buchan gave the Persian manuscripts collected and used by her father, Colonel Mark Wilks.
Since the publication of the printed catalogue in 1842, the college has acquired manuscripts by purchase, and donation, mostly relating to the College or its fellows; these are included in the online listing.
There is now an online listing of the Library’s manuscripts, on which work is continuing to create a full online catalogue in due course. This has been created by amalgamating the three existing lists:
- Manuscripts numbered 1 to 296 were catalogued in the Library's original "Coxe Catalogue": Coxe, H.O., Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Library of All Souls College (Oxford, 1842). This includes all manuscripts acquired prior to 1842 when the catalogue was published. This printed version can be searched via the digitized copy on the Internet Archive.
- Manuscripts numbered 297 to 332 were added by hand on the blank leaves that followed the catalogue in the Library’s own interleaved, and annotated, copy of the Coxe catalogue
- Manuscripts numbered 333 onwards were listed on a typed handlist maintained in the Library office.
All the manuscript descriptions in these lists were mostly very brief.
In addition to the Coxe Catalogue, the Library’s pre-1550 manuscripts were re-catalogued to full modern standards in: Watson, Andrew G., A Descriptive Catalogue of the Medieval Manuscripts of All Souls College, Oxford. (Oxford, 1997). This catalogue includes descriptions of content and structure, as well as history, bindings and provenance information, and will be incorporated into the online catalogue in due course.
Researchers wishing to consult the manuscript collections should contact the Library. Requests for in-person appointments to see special collections material (early printed books, manuscripts, archival materials, maps, etc.) require a minimum of two weeks’ advance notice (ten working days) and, depending on the complexity of the requests and the condition of the materials, may require longer. Please see our opening hours for Library closure dates.
Please note that researchers are not permitted to take their own photographs of special collections materials, but images can be supplied of specific pages, sections, or complete works (if the condition of the original allows for this).
If the condition of the manuscript allows, images can be requested for private research, as well as supplied either in lieu of a visit, or as a conservation measure to reduce the handling of fragile materials. For complete works, images will be uploaded to this website, but specific pages may also be requested. For very large orders, it may be necessary to apply fees, but in most cases there is no charge for this service. Images may also be requested for publication, though, at present, it may not be possible to supply images at high resolution; please contact the Library to discuss requirements. All images should be requested via the Image Request Form. Requests for images of special collections materials are currently taking around four working weeks to process, depending on availability and item condition, but Library Staff aim to fulfil requests as soon as possible.