The Manuscripts of Westminster Abbey

This 1908 study compiled and interpreted the surviving evidence about the important, but long-destroyed, medieval library at Westminster Abbey.

Originally published in 1908, this study documents the history of the library at Westminster Abbey from 1060 to 1660. The original library was dispersed during the Reformation, and its successor destroyed by a fire in 1694, but the distinguished authors' research on the surviving sources reconstructs a surprisingly detailed account.Joseph Armitage Robinson (1858–1933) was an internationally regarded scholar of early Christian texts, as well as an influential churchman, theologian, historian and pioneer of Anglican–Catholic ecumenical dialogue. While he was Dean of Westminster, he collaborated with the outstanding medievalist and palaeographer M. R. James, then Provost of King's College, Cambridge, on this study, originally published in 1908. It documents the history of the library at Westminster Abbey and its accompanying scriptorium from 1060 to 1660, the original library having been dispersed at the dissolution of the monasteries and its successor destroyed by a fire in 1694. The authors present surprisingly detailed information, compiled from surviving sources, about the buildings, furniture and holdings of the library, its administration, the budget for buying and restoring books, and acquisitions from gifts and legacies. James even succeeds in identifying some manuscripts once owned by Westminster that have survived in other collections.