3874 entries. Last updated May 21, 2013.

Manuscripts & Manuscript Copying Timeline Outline

  • Eras
  • Themes

8,000 BCE – 1,000 BCE

The Oldest-Known List of Titles and Occupations
(Circa 3,200 BCE)

The Oldest Known Medical Papyrus
(Circa 1,800 BCE)

The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus. (View Larger)
“Accurate Reckoning for Inquiring into Things, and the Knowledge of All…
(Circa 1,650 BCE)

The Oldest Surgical Treatise
(Circa 1,600 BCE)

Papyrus Ebers (View Larger)
The Most Extensive Record of Ancient Egyptian Medicine
(Circa 1,550 BCE)

In Ancient Egypt Only the "Book of the Dead" Papyri Were Commercially Produced
(Circa 1,550 BCE – 50 BCE)

<p>Papyrus from the <em>Book of the Dead</em> of Ani.</p>
The Papyrus of Ani
(Circa 1,275 BCE – 1,250 BCE)

1,000 BCE – 300 BCE

Homer
Standardization of the Homeric Texts Begins
(Circa 750 BCE)

Ezra the Scribe
Ezra Introduces Public Reading of the Torah
(Circa 536 BCE)

300 BCE – 30 CE

The Royal Library of Alexandria: The Largest Collection of Recorded Information…
(Circa 300 BCE)

A column of the Copper Scroll found in Cave Three.
The Dead Sea Scrolls
(300 BCE – 68 CE)

The Beginnings of Latin Literature
(Circa 300 BCE)

Several of the Guodian Chu Slips. (View Larger)
The Guodian Chu Slips: "Like the Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls"
(Circa 300 BCE)

A "Wild" or "Eccentric" Papyrus of the Iliad
(Circa 275 BCE)

The Septuagint
(Circa 250 BCE – 50 CE)

A Taoist text preserved on silk and discovered in Mawangui in 1973.
The Mawangui Silk Texts
(Circa 175 BCE)

The Isaiah Scroll. (View Larger)
The Great Isaiah Scroll
(Circa 100 BCE)

Virgil
The Writings of Virgil
(42 BCE – 19 BCE)

30 CE – 500 CE

The Oldest Surviving Substantial Collection of Buddhist Manuscripts: The…
(Circa 50 CE)

The diagram, which accompanies proposition five of Book II of the Elements, is preserved in the University of Pennsylvania. (View Larger)
One of the Oldest and Most Complete Diagrams from Euclid
(75 CE – 125 CE)

Papyrus recovered from the Villa of the Papyri
The Only Library Preserved Intact from Roman Times
(79 CE)

Figure nine from Clark's 'The Care of Books,' depicting a Roman reader with his scroll. (View Larger)
The Characteristics of Roman Papyrus Rolls
(Circa 80 CE)

A portrait of Martial.
The First Mention of Literary Works Published in Parchment Codices
(84 CE – 86 CE)

The Romance Papyrus. (View Larger)
The Romance Papyrus
(Circa 100 CE – 200 CE)

The Crosby-Schoyen codex, a Coptic bible circa 300, and the oldest book in private ownership. (View Larger)
Translation of the Bible From Greek into Coptic
(Circa 100 CE – 250 CE)

The recto side of the Saint John Fragment. (View Larger)
The Earliest Known Fragment of the New Testament
(Circa 100 CE – 150 CE)

The fragment of De Bellis Macedonicis, the oldest suriving remains of a Latin manuscreipt written on parchment rather than papyrus. (View Larger)
The Sole Surviving Example of Roman Literary Cursive script and the Earliest…
(Circa 100 CE)

Several of the leather-bound codices of the Nag Hammadi Library. (View Larger)
The Form of the Manuscript Book Gradually Shifts from the Roll to the Codex
(Circa 150 CE – 450 CE)

Recto of papyrus containing lines from Homer's Illiad, found at Hawara. (View Larger)
The "Hawara Homer"
(Circa 150 CE)

Commercial and Private Book Trade in 2nd Century Egypt
(Circa 150 CE)

One of the Oldest Papyrus Codices of the New Testament
(Circa 175 CE – 250 CE)

"Attic Nights" : Lack of Arrangement Makes its Own Kind of Arrangement
(Circa 180 CE)

The Diptych Document Format
(198 CE)

The front side of the first Egerton papyrus fragment.
One of the Earliest Known Fragments of Any Gospel
(Circa 200 CE)

The Making of a Gospel Book
(Circa 200 CE – 300 CE)

The Transition from the Roll to the Codex Resulted in Both Survival and Destruction of Information
(Circa 200 CE – 400 CE)

Origen's Hexapla: Made Possible by the Codex Form, and the First Codices to Display Information in Tabular Form
(Circa 234 CE – 253 CE)

The Heracles Papyrus. (View Larger)
One of the Few Scraps of Classical Literary Illustration on Papyrus
(Circa 250 CE)

The Crosby-Schoyen Codex: One of the Earliest Extant Papyrus Codices
(Circa 250 CE)

The Earliest Known Greek Manuscript of the Four Gospels
(Circa 250 CE)

A map of Israel, with Caesarea Maritima highlightd in blue. (View Larger)
Pamphilus Establishes a Library and Scriptorium and is Executed During…
(275 CE – 309 CE)

A portrait of Eusebius of Caesarea. (View Larger)
One of the Earliest, Most Widely-Used Cross-Indexing Systems
(Circa 280 CE – 340 CE)

Codex IV found at Nag Hammadi. (View Larger)
Early Christian Papyrus Codices in Coptic Bindings
(300 CE – 350 CE)

One of the four leaves of the Vergilius Augusteus that resides in the Vatican Library.(View Larger)
Manuscript Example of Roman Square Capitals and the Earliest Large Ornamented…
(Circa 300 CE)

Costs of Professional Writing Measured by the Normal Length of a Line in a Verse of Virgil
(303 CE)

As a Result of Diocletian's Edict, Police Seize Thirty-Four Biblical Manuscripts in Africa
(May 19, 303 CE)

Contantine Orders Fifty Luxurious Bibles for the Churches of Constantinople
(326 CE – 327 CE)

A page from the Codex Vaticanus. (View Larger)
The Codex Vaticanus
(Circa 350 CE)

The Codex Sinaiticus. (View Larger)
The Codex Sinaiticus
(Circa 350 CE)

Folio from Codex Vercellensis. (View Larger)
The Earliest Surviving Manuscript of the Old Latin Gospels
(Circa 350 CE)

The Oldest Surviving Manuscript of the Comedies of Terence
(Circa 350 CE – 450 CE)

A bust of Fronto. (View Larger)
"To Fronto Belongs the Unique Distinction of Surviving Solely as the Lower…
(Circa 350 CE – 475 CE)

The Earliest and Largest Part of the Surviving Text of Cicero's De re publica
(Circa 350 CE)

One of the Earliest Treatises on Indian Medicine, Written on Birch Bark
(350 CE – 550)

Title page from the Chronography of 354. (View Larger)
The Earliest Dated Codex with Full-Page Illustrations
(354 CE)

Foundation of the Imperial Library of Constantinople
(Circa 357 CE)

A page from Codex Bezae Cantabridgensis. (View Larger)
Codex Bezae Cantabridgensis
(Circa 375 CE – 425 CE)

Vergilius Vaticanus
Herald of Christianity and Magus: One of the Oldest Surviving Illustrated…
(Circa 380 CE)

The Last Major Surviving Historical Account of the Late Roman Empire
(Circa 385 CE)

Page 215 of MS G.67, depicting the acts of the apostles. (View Larger)
"The Earliest Evidence for Tooling on a Leather Bookbinding"
(Circa 400 CE)

At the Beginning of the Dark Ages Production of New Manuscripts Essentially Ceased
(Circa 400 CE – 600)

The "Architecture" of Early Latin Gospel Books
(400 CE – 800)

One of the Few Surviving Sources for the Administrative Structure of the Late Roman Empire
(Circa 420 CE)

A section of the Codex Ephraemi from the National Library in Paris, containing Matt. 20:16-23. (View Larger)
Early Fifth Century Palimpsest
(Circa 425 CE)

The Earliest Surviving Copy of the Vulgate Gospels
(Circa 425 CE)

The Introduction of Christianity to the Irish
(431 CE)

The Codex Alexandrinus
(Circa 450 CE)

The Church Replaces the Roman State as the Source of Order and Stability
(Circa 450 CE – 650)

The Codex Mediceus of Virgil
(Circa 450 CE)

500 CE – 600

A page from Corpus Agrimensorum Romanorum, depicting a perspective of a house and the boundaries of the property on which it was built. (View Larger)
One of Few Surviving "Scientific" Manuscripts from Late Antiquity
(Circa 500 CE – 1554)

The Format of the Book Evolved with the Transition to the Codex
(Circa 500 CE)

The manuscript before and after restoration and repagination. Image from June 2010 edition of The Arts Newspaper. (View Larger)
Possibly the Earliest Surviving Illuminated Christian Manuscripts
(Circa 500 CE – 650)

An illustration of illustration of the species 'Akoniton napellus,' folio 67v. (View Larger)
Probably the Most Beautiful of the Earliest Surviving Scientific Codices
(Circa 512)

A page from the Codex Argenteus. (View Larger)
The Codex Argenteus, The Primary Surviving Example of the Gothic Language
(Circa 520)

St. Benedict. (Click to view larger.)
St. Benedict Founds the Abbey at Monte Cassino and Later Formulates his…
(529)

Littera Florentina. (Click to view larger.)
An Almost Unique Witness to the Original Justinian Digest
(533 – 555)

The Vienna Genesis. (Click to view larger.)
Considered the Oldest, Well-Preserved Illustrated Biblical Codex
(Circa – 540)

Canon tables from Codex Brixianus. (View Larger)
Codex Brixianus
(Circa 550)

Folios 23v and 24r of the Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus. (View Larger)
Written in the Imperial Scriptorum of Constantinople and Dismembered by…
(Circa 550)

The Dark Ages for Study of the Classics on the European Continent
(Circa 550 – 750)

Folios 33v-34r from MS. Ashmole 1431, an eleventh century copy of the Herbal of Pseudo-Apuleius. (View Larger)
The Herbal of Pseudo-Apuleius
(Circa 550 – 625)

Several pages from te Codex Climaci Rescriptus. (View Larger)
The Earliest Manuscript of the New Testament in Christian Palestinian Aramaic
(Circa 550)

Alaric II, as depicted on a Visigothic coin. (View Larger)
One of the Earliest Surviving Legal Codices
(Circa 550)

A color plate from Bordier's paleographic study comparing the two separated portions of one of hte earliest suriviving European papyrus codices.
Among the Earliest Surviving European Papyrus Codices
(Circa 550)

The Codex Sinopensis or Sinope Gospels
(Circa 550)

An illumination of Christ found in the Rossano Gospels. (Click to view larger.)
One of the Oldest Surviving Illuminated Manuscripts of the New Testament
(Circa 555)

An image from Codex Amiantinus. (Click to view larger.)
The Scriptorium and Library at the Vivarium
(Circa 560)

A page from the Cathach of St. Columba. (View Larger)
The Earliest Surviving Manuscript Written in Ireland, the Oldest Surviving…
(Circa 560 – 600)

Saint Columba (View Larger)
From the Monastery on the Small Island of Iona, the Conversion of Pagan…
(Circa 563)

A canon table from Harley 1775, from the British Library. (View Larger)
"Source Z" for the Latin New Testament
(Circa 575 – 599)

Saint Columbanus.
The Monastery and Library at Luxeuil is Founded and Subsequently Sacked,…
(585 – 590)

The End of the Continuity of Late Latin Culture in Most of Italy
(Circa 585)

Folio 13v from the Rabula Gospels, depicting the ascension of Christ. (View larger)
Signed by the Scribe Rabbula in 586
(586)

The beginning of Regula pastoralis. The first three lines, in colored ink, have run or faded. (View Larger)
A Manuscript from Pope Gregory's Scriptorium
(590 – 604)

St. Augustine of Canterbury. (View Larger)
Augustine of Canterbury Preaches to the Anglo-Saxons
(597)

Folio 129v of the St. Augustine Gospels, depicting Luke. (View Larger)
A Volume Brought by St. Augustine to England in 597
(597)

600 – 700

Tablet 3v of the Springmount Bog Tablets. (National Museum. Dublin, 1914: 2) (View Larger)
The Springmount Bog Wax Tablets
(Circa 600)

The name of Mohammed written in classic calligraphy. (View Larger)
The Qur'an
(Circa 610 – 613)

During the Middle Ages Book Production is Concentrated in Monasteries
(Circa 610 – 1200)

Saint Columbanus (View larger)
Foundation of the Monastery and Library at Bobbio
(614)

Folio 149v of the Codex Usserianus Primus.
Possibly the Earliest Surviving Irish Codex
(Circa 625)

Folio 90v of the Naples Dioscurides, a description of the Mandrake. (View Larger)
The Naples Dioscorides
(Circa 625)

York Minster (View Larger)
The Illuminated Gospel Book as a Tool for Evangelization
(627)

A portrait of emperor Taizong of Tang on a hanging silk scroll, currently preserved in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. (View Larger)
A Library Containing "54,000 Rolls"
(627)

<p>Common calligraphic representation of Muhammad's name.</p>
Death of Muhammad
(632)

Excepting the Bible, Probably the Most Widely Circulated Educational Work During the Middle Ages
(Circa 633)

Canon 22 of the Council of Nicea II (British Museum, MS Barocci 26, fol. 140b), where the top is written in minuscule and the bottom in unical.(View Larger)
Arab Conquest of Egypt Resulted in Smaller Exports of Papyrus-- A Probable…
(641)

One of the Qu'ran fragments found in the loft of the Great Mosque in 1972. (View Larger)
The San'a Manuscripts
(Circa 645 – 715)

This golden lion, folio 191v of the Book of Durrow, is the symbol of St. John. (View Larer)
The Book of Durrow
(Circa 650 – 750)

Folio 193 from the Book of Mulling. (View larger)
The Book of Mulling
(Circa 650)

The binding of the Stonyhurst Gospel. (View Larger)
The Earliest European Book that Survived Completely Intact in its Original…
(Circa 650)

Codification of the Qur'an
(Circa 650 – 656)

The Uthman Qur'an
(Circa 653)

Continuing Use of Papyrus through the Eleventh Century
(677 – 1100)

Folio 5r of Codex Amiatinus, showing Ezra. (View Larger)
The Codex Amiatinus: the Earliest Surviving Complete Bible in the Latin…
(Circa 685)

A page from the Ceolfrid Bible. (View Larger)
The Ceolfrid Bible
(Circa 685 – 710)

A map of the Umayyad Caliphate at its greatest extent, in 750 CE. (View Larger)
A Library Containing Manuscripts from All Parts of the Known World
(690)

700 – 800

The first page of the Beowulf manuscript. (View Larger)
Beowulf
(700 – 1000)

One of the Oldest Hebrew Fragments Written in Europe
(Circa 700)

A reproduction of the Kalyuan Za Bao, one of the earliest newspapers. (View Larger)
One of the Earliest Newspapers, Written on Silk
(713 – 734)

Folio 27r of the Lindisfarne Gospels. (View Larger)
Creation of the Lindisfarne Gospels
(715 – 720)

(View Larger)
The Earliest Image of a Scribe Using a Writing Table
(Circa 715 – 720)

The library in the Abbey of St. Gall. (View Larger)
One of the Oldest, Largest, and Most Signficant Medieval Libraries
(719)

Historia ecclasiastica gentis Anglorum, folio 3v of Beda Petersburgiensis, dated 746. (View Larger)
The Foundation of English History
(Circa 731)

Folio 5r of Codex Benevenatus, Jerome's letter. (View Larger)
From the Libraries of Richard Mead and Anthony Askew
(736 – 760)

Most of the Surviving Greek Literature was Translated into Arabic by 750
(750)

The oldest known historiated initial, found in the St. Petersurg Bede, also known as the Leningrad Bede.
The Earliest Known Example of an Historiated Initial and One of the Earliest…
(Circa 750)

A portrait of St. Mark the Evangelist from folio 30v of the Book of Dimma. (View Larger)
The Book of Dimma
(Circa 750)

A modern photograph of a courtyard in the House of Wisdom, also known as the Bait al-Hikma. (View Larger)
Foundation of the House of Wisdom
(762)

The Oldest Surviving Book in the German Language
(765 – 775)

The Earliest Surviving Document of the Christian Book Trade and Stichometry
(Circa 770 – 825)

Production of Manuscripts and Interest in Books Begins in Germany in the Last Third of the Eighth Century
(Circa 770)

The Earliest Datable Application of Carolingian Minuscule
(772 – 781)

A page fromt he 'Canones concillorum,' written in both unical and miniscule.(View Larger)
"The Oldest Western European Codex in Private Hands"
(Circa 775)

The Only Surviving Visigothic Manuscript Containing Figural Decoration
(Circa 775 – 825)

An example of the Carolingian minuscule, taken from the tenth century Freising manuscripts. (View Larger)
The Educator Alcuin and the Emperor Charlemagne
(780 – 796)

A Book of Psalms from the Late 8th Century Found in a Bog in 2006
(Circa 780)

About 7000 Manuscripts and Fragments Survive from the Late 8th and 9th Centuries
(Circa 780 – 875)

Sources of the Exemplars Copied during the Carolingian Renaissance
(Circa 780)

The Earliest Example of the Carolingian Illumination Style
(781 – 783)

Declined to About 35,000 Volumes
(Circa 790)

An image depicting the crucifixion of Christ, found in the Gellone Sacramentary. (View Larger)
The Gellone Sacramentary: a Masterpiece of Carolingian Manuscript Illumination
(Circa 790)

Partial Inventory of the Court Library of Charlemagne at Aachen
(Circa 790)

1302 Manuscript Codices or Fragments Survive of Texts Written before 800
(799)

800 – 900

<p>The Book of Kells.</p>
The Book of Kells
(Circa 800)

About 3000 Manuscripts of Classical Authors Survive from the 9th to 12th Centuries
(Circa 800)

Folio f32v of Harley 2767, the document from which most manuscripts of De architectura were copied. (View Larger)
The Archetype of De Architectura
(Circa 800)

Charlemagne Renews Book and Library Culture
(800 – 877)

<p>Example of Carolingian minuscule script.</p>
Adoption of the Carolingian Minuscule
(800 – 830)

One of the most outsanding illumated manuscripts of De luadibus sanctae crucis, preserved in the Vatican Library, depicting Christ. (View Larger)
Carmina Figurata Word Pictures
(Circa 810)

A page from the Uspensky Gospels. (View Larger)
The Earliest Surviving Dated Manuscript Written in Greek Minuscule
(815 – 835)

Leaf 2r of the Stuttgart Psalter (Folio Bible 23 in the Wurttenmbergische Landesbibliothek). (View Larger)
"A Perfect Relationship between Text and Picture"
(Circa 820 – 830)

"The most ingenious and expressive work of narrative art known from all of Late Antiquity"
(820)

St. Theodore, the Studite.
Rules for the Scriptorium and the Library
(Circa 825)

A folio from the Bern Physiologus. (View Larger)
Medieval Natural History Bestseller
(825 – 850)

The Oldest Surviving Manuscript on Arabic Paper
(Circa 825)

The Earliest Surviving Text of Lucretius's De rerum natura
(Circa 825)

The Oldest Complete Dated Book in Arabic Written on Paper
(848)

Cosmas Indicopleustes's map of the earth, from Topographia Christiana. (View Larger)
An Early Flat-Earth View of the World
(Circa 850)

The Earliest Surviving Copy of Aristotle's Biological Works
(Circa 850)

The frontispiece of a 1709 edition of De re coquinaria. (View Larger)
The Earliest Surviving Cookbook
(Circa 850)

A bust of Aulus Cornelius Celsus.
The Oldest Western Medical Document after the Hippocratic Writings and…
(Circa 850)

The Earliest Surviving Manuscript Closest to Euclid's Original Text
(Circa 850)

The Fables of Phaedrus
(Circa 850)

The Codex Spirensis, of which Only a Single Leaf of the Original Survives
(Circa 860 – 920)

Folio 241b of MS Leiden Or. 298, a manuscript of the 'Gharib al-Hadith' by Abu `Ubayd al-Qasim b. Sallam. (View Larger)
The Oldest Arabic Manuscript on Arabic Paper Preserved in Europe
(November – December 867)

The Earliest-Known Manuscript of the Arabian Nights
(October 20, 879)

One of the Two Oldest Manuscripts of Ovid's Ars Amatoria
(Circa 880)

The second page of MS. d'Orville 301. (View Larger)
The Oldest Dated Manuscript of a Classical Greek Author
(888)

The initial page of the Peterborough Chronicle, marked secondarily by the librarian of the Laud collection in the Bodelian Library. The manuscript is an autograph of the monastic scribes of Peterborough, and the opening sections were likely scribed around 1150. The section displayed is prior to the First Continuation. (View Larger)
The First Continuous History Written by Europeans in their Own Language
(890)

By the End of the 9th Century the Major Part of Latin Literature had Been Copied
(Circa 890 – 900)

The First Surviving Book Written Entirely in English
(Circa 890)

Folio 94v of the Clarke Plato. (View Larger)
The Oldest Surviving Manuscript of Plato's Tetralogies
(November 895)

900 – 1000

Jews Adopted the Codex Around 900
(Circa 900)

Folio 1r of Harley MS 55, the only surviving copy of the Leechbook of Bald. The manuscript resides in the British Library. (View Larger)
One of the Oldest Medical or Scientific Treatises Written in English
(Circa 900)

The Book of Judges, chapters 1:15 to 2:1, from the Aleppo Codex. (View Larger)
The Earliest Surviving Manuscript of the Complete Hebrew Bible
(Circa 930)

Folio 114v of MS M 652, in the Pierpont Morgan Library. (View Larger)
The Morgan Dioscorides
(Circa 930 – 970)

Vat. gr. 218 fols. 39v-40r, two pages of the earliest surviving copy of Pappus's 'Collection.' (View Larger)
The Earliest Surviving Copy of Pappus's Mathematical Collection
(Circa 950)

A portrait of Luke on Folio 29v of the Book of Deer. (View Larger)
Possibly the Earliest Surviving Manuscript Produced in Scotland
(Circa 950)

Folio 12r of Venetus A. (View Larger)
The Most Famous Manuscript of the Iliad
(Circa 950)

A small sampling of Aldred's gloss of the Gospels. (View Larger)
The Oldest Surviving Translation of the Gospels into English
(Circa 950 – 960)

Folio 30 of suppl. gr. 384, belonging to the Bibliothèque Nationale.
The Palatine Anthology of Greek Poetry
(Circa 950)

The Oldest Documentation of Occidental Music
(960 – 970)

An artwork from the 'Biblia de Leon,' or the Bible of St. Isidore. (View Larger)
Possible Inspiration for Picasso's Guernica?
(June 19, 960)

A map of the Caliphate of Cordoba circa 1000CE. (View Larger)
Over 400,000 Manuscript Volumes at Cordoba
(Circa 961)

The Golden Gospels of Henry VIII
(Circa 977 – 993)

Muslim Countries Adopt Paper but Not Printing
(Circa 980)

The Earliest Universal Bibliography
(988 – 990)

A pair of facing paintings showing the peoples of the world adoring Otto III, from the Goespels of Otto III. (View Larger)
Possibly the Most Valuable Book in the World
(Circa 998 – 1001)

The Oldest Book in Rus', a "Hyper-Palimpsest" of Three Bound Wooden Wax Tablets
(998 – 1030)

1000 – 1100

Folio 1 recto of Halper 211, considred to be one of the oldest surviving haggadahs. (View Larger)
The Oldest Surviving Haggadah(s)
(Circa 1000)

Folios 325r and 326v of MS. Marsh 144, depicting the constellation Orion. (View Larger)
The Oldest Surviving Illustrated Manuscript in Arabic
(1009 – 1010)

Cover page E, folio 474a, of the Leningrad Codex. (View Larger)
The Earliest Extant Complete Text of the Bible in Hebrew
(Circa 1010)

Production of Medieval Arabic Manuscripts
(Circa 1025)

One of the oldest Scottish books remaining in Scotland: a psalter nearly 1,000 years old. (View Larger
The Oldest Scottish Book Remaining in Scotland
(Circa 1025)

The Ostomir Gospels, the Second Earliest East Slavonic Book
(1056 – 1057)

More than One Million Charters Survive from the Period of Norman Rule in England
(1066 – 1307)

Folio 1r of the manuscript of Liber Pantegni preserved in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. (View Larger)
Probably the Earliest Surviving Western Medical Treatise
(Circa 1075 – 1098)

The Domesday Book. (View Larger) /></p></a> <p>William I of England, better known as <a href=
The Domesday Book, Recording the First English Census
(December 1085 – August 1086)

A T-O design from Lambert's Liber Floridus. (View Larger)
A Medieval Encyclopedia, of which the Autograph Manuscript Survived
(Circa 1090 – 1125)

1100 – 1200

A folio from MS 2085 of the Schoyen Collection, one of the twelve extant manuscripts of the letters of Abelard and Heloise. (View Larger)
Among the Best Known Records of Early Forbidden Romantic Love
(1115)

Peter the Venerable.
First Translation of the Qur'an into a Western Language
(1143)

An illustration of a naval battle in the Madrid Skylitzes, showing Greek marine flamethrower technology. (View Larger)
The Only Surviving Illustrated Manuscript of a Greek Chronicle
(Circa 1150)

(See Larger)
Twelfth Century Images of the Processes in Book Production
(Circa 1150)

A heavily glossed manuscript of Libri Quattuor Sententiarum by Peter Lombard, whose usage of margin notes for citations is considered by some to be the direct antecedent of modern scholarly footnotes. (View Larger)
"Ancestor of the Modern Scholarly Apparatus of Footnotes"
(Circa 1150)

An Illuminated Medieval Travel Guide and Music Compendium
(Circa 1150)

Plate 8 of the Englehardt facsimile of the Hortus delicarum. In the centermost circle, Philosophy rests upon a queenly throne, holding a banner that says 'All wisdom comes from God, only the wise can do what they want.' Directly below sit Socrates and Plato, at abutting desks. In the surrounding orbs stand the Seven Liberal arts: grammar, rhetoric, dialectics, music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. (View Larger)
Written and Illuminated by the Nun Herrad of Landsberg
(1167 – 1185)

Origins of the Paris Book Trade
(Circa 1170)

Folio 7v of the Hungarian Psalter: a miniature depicting, on top, the creation of Adam, and, on bottom, the temptation of Adam by Eve. (View Larger)
The Hunterian Psalter
(Circa 1170)

T-S_10Ka4.1,r: a page from an early autograph draft of Maimonides's 'Guide for the Perplexed.' (View Larger)
Early Autograph Draft of Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed
(Circa 1185)

The Emergence of Concordances and Subject Indexes
(Circa 1190 – 1290)

The Coronation of Henry IV of Liber ad honorem Augusi sive de rebus Siculis, folio 105r of MS. 120 II, Berne Municipal Library. (View Larger)
A Graphic Portrayal of 12th Century Life in Italy and Sicily
(1196)

1200 – 1300

Beginnings of an Active Book Trade Outside of Monasteries
(Circa 1200)

Knowledge of Greek and Greek Texts During the Middle Ages
(Circa 1200 – 1450)

A 1297 copy of the Magna Carta. (View Larger)
The Magna Carta
(January – June 17, 1215)

Two pages from the Heidelberg Sachsenspiegel. (View Larger)
Most Important Law Book of the German Middle Ages
(1220 – 1235)

The Greater Kyz Kala at Merv, presumed to be the residence of a noble or royal personage. (View Larger)
No Fewer than Twelve Libraries Available to the Public in Merv
(1228)

The Pecia System
(April 4, 1228)

The Cover of Codex Gigas: 92cm tall, 50 cm wide. (View Larger)
The Largest Extant Medieval Manuscript- The Devil's Bible
(1229)

Folio 1r of Fr. 1573 at the Bibliotheque Nationale, the earliest extant copy of 'Le Roman de la Rose.' (View Larger)
Le Roman de la Rose: A Medieval Best Seller
(Circa 1230 – 1275)

The First Concordance of the Bible, Compiled by 500 Monks
(Circa 1230 – 1239)

Folio 1r of the 'C' manuscript of the Nibelungenlied. (View Larger)
The Song of the Nibelungs
(Circa 1230)

Rome and its vicinity, as depicted on a reproduction the Tabula Peutingeriana. (View Full Map - Very Large)
The Tabula Peutingeriana
(Circa 1250)

The incipit of HLS MS 1, Harvard Law School's copy of Bracton's De legibus et consuetudinibus Angliae, probably written around the year 1300. (View Larger)
Precedent and Common Law
(1250 – 1256)

The First Alphabetical Subject Indexes
(Circa 1250)

The Earliest Surviving Statute Regulating the Paris Book Trade
(December 8, 1275)

Autograph Manuscript by Ibn-al-Nafis on the Art of Medicine
(Circa 1280)

Probably the Largest Medieval Library in Europe
(1289)

Organization of the Sorbonne Library, and the Way it Was Physically Arranged
(1290)

Folio 54r from a facsimile of 'Le divisament dou monde,' preserved at the University of Graz, in Germany. (View Larger)
The Lure and Romance of Travel to the East
(1298 – 1299)

The Planudean Anthology as Basis for the Anthologia Graeca
(1299 – 1301)

1300 – 1400

The Hereford Mappa Mundi. (View Larger)
The Hereford Mappa Mundi, "The Greatest Extant Thirteenth Century Pictorial…
(Circa 1300)

Lay Readers and Book Owners
(Circa 1300)

Folios 7v-8r of the Metz Pontifical.
The Metz Pontifical: An Unfinished Medieval Masterpiece
(Circa 1303 – 1316)

Folio 323r of Codex Manesse: a portrait of Reinmar dictating poetry scribes, one of which bears a wax tablet. (View Larger)
The Use of Manuscript Rolls in the Middle Ages
(Circa 1304 – 1340)

A scene from Rashid al-Din Tabib's 'Jami al-Tawarikh' in which the Ghazan Khan is converted to Islam. (View Larger)
Enormous Islamic History Containing the Earliest Notice of Chinese Printing…
(1307)

First Recorded Use of Paper in England
(1309)

Arthur versus the Saxons as depicted in the Rochefoucauld Grail. (View Larger)
The Rochefoucauld Grail
(1315 – 1323)

Prices that Booksellers Should Charge for Manuscripts
(1317 – 1342)

Medieval Union Catalogue of Manuscripts
(Circa 1320)

Rules for the Operation of the Library of the Sorbonne
(1321)

Renaissance Humanists Hunt for the Manuscripts of Roman Authors
(Circa 1325 – 1450)

The Oldest Known English Public Advertisement
(Circa 1340)

The seal of Richard de Bury. (View Larger)
Philobiblon
(1345)

Medieval Union Catalogue of Manuscripts Names 694 Authors
(Circa 1350)

Zilbaldone
(Circa 1350)

The Oldest Surviving Road Map of Great Britain and the First Map to Depict a Recognizably Accurate Picture of Britain's Coastline
(Circa 1360)

Scribes in London First Organize
(September 23, 1373)

The Relative Costs of the Components of Medieval Manuscripts
(1374 – 1375)

Folio 1v of Omne Bonum upon which is drawn the four scenes of creation: God creating fish; God creating animals; the Creation of Adam; the Creation of Eve. (View Larger)
The First Encyclopedia Arranged in Alphabetical Order
(Circa 1375)

One of the Most Beautiful Medieval Atlases
(1375)

The opening leaf of the Hengwrt Chaucer. (View Larger)
Both of the Earliest and Most Authoritative Manuscripts of Chaucer's Canterbury…
(Circa 1380)

Costs for a Missal Produced in 1382
(1382)

A view of Nuremberg--folio 99v/100r of the Nuremberg Chronicles--showing Stromer's paper mill, bordering the city on the bottom right. (View Larger)
Earliest European Document on the Production of Paper
(1390)

A recipe for pork in a sage sauce, from The Forme of Cury. (View Larger)
One of the Oldest Known Manuscripts on Cookery in English, Written in the…
(Circa 1390)

1400 – 1450

The seal of the Guild of Stationers.
The Guild of Stationers
(1403)

A page of the Yongle Encyclopedia. (View Larger)
An Encyclopedia in 11,095 Volumes
(1403 – 1408)

Several pages from the indecipherable Voynich Manuscript. (View Larger)
Uncrackable Code or Great Written Hoax?
(Circa 1404 – 1438)

A facsimile version of the Squarcialupi Codex. (View Larger)
The Largest Primary Source for Music of the Trecento
(Circa 1410 – 1415)

The Rediscovery of Lucretius's De rerum natura
(1417 – 1473)

Technological Manuscripts by the Sienese Archimedes
(1419 – 1449)

An image of Moses from the Book of Leviticus: folio 141v of a manuscript bible produced in the workshop of the scribe Diebold Lauber. (View Larger)
Serial Workshop Production of Medieval Manuscripts
(Circa 1420 – 1470)

The Largest and Finest Collection of Greek Texts before Bessarion's
(December 15, 1423)

Page 145b of A Mariner's Knowledge, by Michael of Rhodes, depicting a completed galley ship.
The Earliest Known Treatise on Shipbuilding
(1434)

From About 1440 -1470 the Production of Manuscript Books Increased; From 1471 to 1490, with the Increase of Printed Book Production, Manuscript Book Production Declined
(Circa 1440 – 1475)

"The Imitation of Christ"
(1441 – 1473)

The entrance to the Biblioteca Malatestiana. (View Larger)
The First European Civic Library
(1447 – 1452)

1450 – 1500

A hall of the Vatican Library. (View Larger)
Establishment of the Vatican Library
(April 30, 1451)

The Giant Bible of Mainz, copied by hand in large characters as to be read from a lectern, shares many artistic characteristics with the Gutenberg Bible, and may haver served as a model for it. (View Larger)
The Giant Bible of Mainz: Possibly the Model for the Typography in the…
(April 4, 1452 – July 9, 1453)

A depiction of the siege of Constantinople, painted in Paris in 1499. (View Larger)
Byzantine Greek Scholars Carry Manuscripts to Italy
(Circa June 1453)

A bust of Johannes Mentlin in the Humanist Library of Sélestat. (View Larger)
A Scribe and Illuminator Adopts the New Technology
(Circa 1458)

<p>Portrait of Augustine of Hippo by Philippe de Champaigne.</p>
The Value and Difficulty of Preparing an Accurate Manuscript for Printing
(1466)

The first edition of St. Augustine's 'De Civitate Dei,' meaning City of God, is the oldest printed work for which the original manuscript remains. (View Larger)
Possibly the Earliest Printed Book for which the Printer's Manuscript Remains…
(June 12, 1467)

Three Ways that Printing Changed Manuscript Culture
(Circa 1470)

Scribes Attempt to Block Competition from Printers
(May 12, 1472)

The First Technical Dictionary
(1473 – 1474)

Possibly the Earliest Physician's Library Preserved Intact
(1474)

Gershom Soncino Sells the First Copy of His First Book
(December 19 – December 29, 1488)

The Best Medium for Long Term Information Storage
(1494)

The Persistence of Illuminated Manuscript Production
(Circa 1499)

1500 – 1550

The Number of Early Printed Editions Which Survived Versus the Number of Surviving Medieval Manuscripts
(December 1500)

The first page of the 'Codex Mendoza,' which was printed in Mexico in 1540 and depicted the daily life and conquests of the Aztec empire, with traditional Aztec pictograms and explanations in Spanish. (View Larger)
The Codex Mendoza
(Circa 1540)

1550 – 1600

Book Collector Matthew Parker Donates his Library
(1574)

Historia general del Piru
(Circa 1585 – 1616)

Perhaps the Most Important Private Collection of Manuscripts Ever Collected in England
(1588 – 1631)

1600 – 1650

The Second Public Library in Europe
(December 8, 1609)

News Services Persist in Distributing News by Manuscript
(Circa 1610)

1650 – 1700

The First Book on the Detection of Forged Documents
(1666)

Foundation of Palaeography and Diplomatics
(1681)

The First Country-Wide Printed Union Catalogue of Manuscripts
(1697)

1700 – 1750

Popol Vuh, The Book of the People, Known from a Single Manuscript
(1701 – 2012)

The First Book Auction Conducted in Paris for Which a Catalogue was Printed
(July – December 1706)

The Word Palaeography Coined
(1708)

To Protect the More than 4000 Manuscript Copyists of Constantinople
(1727)

The First Continent-Wide Union Catalogue of Manuscripts
(1739)

1750 – 1800

Probably the Most Ambitious Editorial Enterprise before the Wikipedia
(1773 – 1782)

Foundation of the Archives nationales de France
(1790)

The Poetry of Homer as a Product of Oral Tradition
(1795)

1800 – 1850

The First Edition of the Qur'an Printed by Muslims
(1801)

The First Thematic Index of a Composer's Work, Based on Mozart's Own Index
(1805)

Foundation of the Ecole nationale des chartes
(February 22, 1821)

The First Illustrated Antiquarian Bookseller's Catalogue
(1829)

The First Attempt Since that of Montfaucon (1739) to Publish a Union Catalogue of Manuscripts in European Libraries
(1830 – 1853)

The Penny Post: Perhaps the Greatest Single Stimulus to Written Communication
(1837 – 1840)

The Greatest Private Collector of Manuscripts in the Nineteenth Century
(1837 – 1871)

The Penny Black
(May 1, 1840)

First Installments of the First Government-Sponsored National Union Catalogue of Manuscripts
(1846 – 1849)

1850 – 1875

Constantin von Tischendorf Discovers the Codex Sinaiticus
(1859)

1875 – 1900

The Largest and Most Diverse Collection of Medieval Manuscripts in the World
(1896 – 1902)

Lewis Carroll Wrote or Received 98,000 Letters
(January 14, 1898)

1900 – 1910

The First Library of Rare Science Books Formed by an American
(1908)

1940 – 1950

Discovery of the "Dead Sea Scrolls"
(1947 – 1956)

1950 – 1960

Chartae Latinae Antiquiores
(1954)

1960 – 1970

The Gutenberg Galaxy
(1962)

1970 – 1980

Finding Additional Pages of the Codex Sinaiticus
(May 1979)

1980 – 1990

The Name of the Rose
(1980)

1990 – 2000

The Electronic Beowulf
(1993)

Digital Scriptorium
(November 1997)

2005 – 2010

From the Sixth Century to the Twenty-First
(2005)

"From Gutenberg to the Internet"
(2005)

Making Handwritten Manuscripts Searchable
(February 9, 2006)

Access to Nearly One Million Archive Collection Descriptions
(March 2006)

Previously Unknown Speeches by Hyperides
(November 2006)

Still Another Major Discovery in the Archimedes Palimpsest
(April 26, 2007)

Virtual Reunification of the Codex Sinaiticus
(July 6, 2009)

Algorithm to Decipher Ancient Texts
(September 2, 2009)

2010 – 2011

The Vatican Library Plans the Scanning of all its Manuscripts into the FITS Document Format
(March 24, 2010)

2011 – 2013

The Saint John's Bible is Completed
(May 2011)

The Methodists' Handwritten Bible
(August 11, 2011)

Surprisingly Active 21st Century Trade in Medieval Manuscript Books of Hours
(2012)

Discovery of the Afghan Genizah
(January 23, 2012)

Using a Densitometer to Measure Usage of Medieval Books of Hours
(April 23, 2012)

Digitizing the Oldest Monastic Library
(May 2012)

The Secret Race to Save Manuscripts in Timbuktu and Djenne
(December 27, 2012)