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Ancient manuscripts summary listing 401 - 450

March 2014: the descriptor [good/fair/poor/unusable] in square brackets following a manuscript's title indicates its current physical condition as assessed by Oxford Conservation Consortium in January-July 2014. Those in poor condition will not normally be produced for researchers, and those rated unusable not produced at all, until conservation treatment has been carried out in order to prevent further damage during consultation. Poor or unusable manuscripts may also not be fit to photograph safely, including by staff. If you do want to consult or request images from a manuscript that is not currently in a state to produce or photograph safely, please let us know - active research interest is of course a key factor in determining our conservation priorities.

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Digital images of the college's medieval manuscripts are placed online as they are created, usually on demand. Images are linked to from individual entries on these catalogue pages. The digitisation programme is shaped by researchers' requests rather than e.g. starting with MS 1, so if you require images for your research from a manuscript only partially photographed or not yet represented in the Flickr collection, please get in touch to have it added to the 'to-do' list.

401. Miscellanea Curiosa Politica in Prose and verse, faithfully collected in the Years 1714, 1715, and 1716 etc. by Henry Fisher, A.M. and fellow of Balliol College in Oxford, vol. i. Many of the pieces seem to be concerned with James Stuart, the ‘Old Pretender’. 100 pages, 7 × 5¼ in., original rough calf binding. Given to the College in 1934 by Godfrey, first Lord Elton (exhibitioner 1911), who according to a letter from him inserted in the MS, had recently found it at Bicester (Oxon.).' [condition: fair] images online

402. Original Letters (8) to James Brooke (commoner of the colleges 1701-5) from his father Roger Brooke of Baughton (near Pershore, Worcs) between 1694/5 and 1705; one to James in 1702 from a sailor brother; and two to Roger Brooke, dated 1688 and 1700/1 from Robert Dormer. Six of the letters are addressed to James Brooke while at Oxford as an undergraduate. Images online here. [condition: good]

403. Original letters (70) from Theophilus Leigh (Master of Balliol 1726-85) to Lydia, widow of the first Duke of Chandos. The earliest seems to be of 1744, soon after the duke's death; the last, dated 12 November 1750, was written less than a week before hers. Inserted is the original of a solemn Protest, signed before a notary public by Leigh and seven other College heads, against all and every Act done in the University Convocation on 3 July 1760. [condition: good] images online

Citations:

• Lock, FP. 'The Topicality of Samuel Johnson's "Life" of Francis Cheynell.' The Review of English Studies, New Series, Vol 65, No 272 (2014). 853-865.

404. A Repertorie of Charters, Muniments, and other Writings belonging to the University of Oxford under the care of the Custos Archivorum AD 1664. (C18 transcript) [condition: good]

405. Original autograph letter of Percy Bysshe Shelley to AB Pereira, 16 September 1815. (Printed in his Complete Works, ed R Ingpen and WE Peck, ix (1926), no 256.) Images online here. [condition: good]

406. Original autograph text of The Monk of Athos, an unfinished poem in nine stanzas by Lord Byron. Images online here. [condition: good]

407. 'Miscellanea 1821', a commonplace-book kept while an undergraduate at Christ Church by Frederick Oakeley (Fellow of the College 1827); it includes excerpts from the classics in Latin and English, and from English poetry, and transcripts of a number of contemporary Oxford prize poems. [condition: good]

408. 'The Story of my Life,' an autobiography (largely in rough draft) by Frederick Oakeley, not extending much beyond his election at Balliol; also a shorter sketch written towards the end of his life - in two version, one in the first person and one in the third - which contains some details of his reception into the Church of Rome in 1845. [condition: fair]

409. Transcript of the judgement pronounced by Sir Herbert Jenner-Fust, Dean of the Arches, in the case of Hodgson v Oakeley, 30 June 1845, whereby the Revd Frederick Oakeley, then Fellow of the College, was suspended from clerical duties on account of his attitude towards the Church of Rome. [condition: fair to good]

410. Original autograph letters (over 150 in number) of the years 1841-58 from Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, dean of Westminster (scholar of the College 1834) to Benjamin Jowett, Master of Balliol; see R Prothero, Life and Correspondence of APS (1893) and Letters and Verses of APS (1895). [condition: good]

411. Original autograph Sermons and Addresses by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley. Kept with MS 412. [condition: fair]

412. Original autograph Sermons and Addresses by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley. Kept with MS 411., and a third box containing copies of his sermons as printed in pamphlet form. [condition: fair]

413. 'The Quatrains of Omar Khayyam englished by EP Fitzgerald and copied by my friend Jas. Walter Ferrier, and given me by his sister E Ferrier in remembrance of our friendship.' [condition: good]

414. Original autograph letters from John Ruskin: to (Sir) Charles Newton (7) largely filled with instruction in sketching, (1) imperfect; (10) to Miss Fortescue, later Mrs David Urquhart. Images online here. [condition: good]

415. Original autograph Essays written while an undergraduate by Algernon Charles Swinburne (Commoner of the College 1856), one in English 'On the Source of false Impressions' (7 pages, initialled by his tutor, James Riddell) and two in Latin 'De Scriptoribus antiquis' (5pp) and 'De Vita Henrici VIII' (6 pp) Images online here.

416. 'By the North Sea,' the original draft (used as printer's copy) of a poem written by Algernon Charles Swinburne in June 1880, and published the same year in his Studies in Song. Images online here

417. 'Social Verse' the original holograph manuscript of a review by Algernon Charles Swinburne of the enlarged edition (1891_ of Frederick Locker's Lyra Elegantiarum. Images online here [condition: good]

418. George Macdonald (1824-1905), 'The Diary of an Old Soul': typescript with autograph corrections, used as printer's copy for the edition privately printed in 1882, together with a copy of that edition inscribed by the author to his cousin CE Troup, an earlier typescript of certain passages, and a notebook containing a transcript of the January section of the work. 418a (TS) [condition: good] ; 418b (print) [condition: good].

419. John William Mackail (Warner Exhibitioner of the College 1878): (a) notebook containing autograph transcripts of poems by him, 1879-87 and later, some of the printed in Love's Looking-Glass (1891) [condition: fair]; (b) large notebook containing extracts from his reading, mainly made with a view to his lectures as Professor of Poetry at Oxford 1906-10. Inserted are letters from Sir James Murray about the definition of 'poetry' in the New English Dictionary. [condition: fair]

420. A collection of autograph signatures and letters, mainly to or connected with Charles Prestwich Scott (1846-1932), editor of the Manchester Guardian. Among the writers of holograph letters are Robert Browning, Ford Madox Brown (3), EA Freeman, AHD Acland (3), WE Gladstone, George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), Frederic Harrison, Sir Hubert Herkomer, William Morris, Max Mueller, the fifth earl of Rosebery, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Mrs Humphrey Ward. [condition: poor]

421. Miscellaneous letters and papers, some of chiefly domestic interest. Among the writers are Viscount Grey of Fallodon (3, to Arnold Bennett), Archbishop Tait (2), Benjamin Jowett, Adam Smith (Snell exhibitioner 1740), Alexander Carlyle, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Robert Browning (9), Algernon Charles Swinburne (notes on Jowett), Matthew Arnold; there are also notes about George Nathaniel (afterwards Marquess) Curzon as an undergraduate from Lord Sumner of Ibstone and from GA Bliss his College servant. [condition: fair]

422. 'The Moral Doctrine of William of Ockham,' an autograph essay by Charles Warrack (exhibitioner of the College 1882), which won the Green Moral Philosophy Prize at Oxford in 1890, the year before his untimely death. [condition: fair]

423. 'Intuition or the Interpretation of the Unconscious,' typescript of a sequel to his book Instinct and Intuition (1929) by George Binney Dibblee (scholar of the College 1887). [condition: good]

424. Notes, mainly lexicographical, on Animals in Greco-Roman Antiquity, compiled by George Jennison (commoner of the College 1892), author of Animals for Show and Pleasure in Ancient Rome (Manchester, 1937). [condition: good]

425. Original manuscript memoir of Albrecht Mendelssohn Bartholdy (Fellow of the College 1934-6) by Professor HCC Wach. [condition: good]

426. Canarese (?) An unidentified work on 122 palm-leaves between wooden boards. [condition: fair]

427. Hebrew. One sheet from a Roll of the Law (54 lines) in a large hand. [condition: good]

428. Hindustani. Contemporary copy of the 19th century Land Register of the village of Dharmpur in the Punjab, together with the original of a lecture in English on the Indian village-community, based upon it, by Sir James Wilson (Balliol 1874). [condition: poor]

429. Drafts and notes made by Henry Savage (Master of Balliol 1650-72), mostly for Balliofergus. [condition: fair]

430. Notebook of a student in classics and law (early C19); the law-notes seem to be largely taken from Charles Viner's Abridgement. Images online here. [condition: good]

431. Anonymous Treatise on the Poor-Laws, C18/19. [condition: fair]

432. A Law-student's notebook, being an analysis of reported cases under headings (Bankruptcy, Bailment etc), early C19. [condition: good]

433. Reports of cases in the Court of Chancery concerning probate (?), in the second half of the 18th century. [condition: good]

434. A Lawyer's notebook, being an analysis of reported cases under headings, much fuller than MS 432, mid C18. [condition: good]

435. 'The Liturgy of Inspiration, or, Sacrifices of Praise, Services of Prayer, and Acts of Humiliation, composed intirely [sic] from the Word of God.' 2 vols. a) [condition: good], b) [condition: fair]

436. 'The Speeches and Proceedings in the Parlament [sic] 1628.' [condition: good]

437. 'Remembrances for Order and Decency to be Kept in the Upper House of Parliament by the Lords when his Majestie is not there,' as codified in 1660, with additions to 1725. [condition: good]

438. Letters, essays and verses in Latin, Greek and (pp 66 and 78) English composed while an undergraduate or junior fellow by Thomas Laurence (Commoner of the College 1615, Fellow of All Souls 1618, Master of Balliol 1637-46) Images online here.[condition: fair]

439. Matthew Arnold (Scholar of the College 1841), autograph originals of 'The Study of Poetry' and 'Thomas Gray', two essays contributed to TH Ward's English Poets (1880) and reprinted in Essays in Criticism, 2nd series (1888).

440. Matthew Arnold, autograph manuscript of 'Sohrab and Rustum,' lines 109-467. [condition: good]

441. Original manuscript drafts and proof-sheets of poems by Arthur Hugh Clough (Scholar of the College 1837): (a) the '1849 (Roma) Notebook' (see Poems of AHC, ed HF Lowry, ALP Norrington and FL Mulhauser, Oxford, 1951, 474); (b)

442. 'For Remembrance', a memoir of John Edward Courtenay Bodley (Commoner of the College 1873), 6 vols. List of more than 200 letters tipped-in throughout here. [condition: good]

443. TS copy of JEC Bodley's journal of his visit to South Africa 1887-9, 2 vols. [condition: good]

444. TS copy of the autobiography of Sydney John Cole MD (Commoner of the College 1891). [condition: good]

445. Diary of Ernest Walker DMus (Commoner of the College 1887) for the years 1888-94 in 7 vols. smaller vols [condition: good]; 1 larger vol [condition: fair]

446. Arabic. 'Unwān al-Sharaf, a treatise of Shāfite Law by Sharaf al Dīn al-Mukrī. (Probably C19. Formerly numbered 364 and 365A.) [condition: good]

447. Persian. Hāfiz, Collected Poems. (AH 1315 = AD 1897.) 242 ff. 11 1/2 x 6 1/2". No ornament. [condition: fair] Provenance: On the first page is 'Present from Mirza Mohammed to Colonel CA Kemball' and in another hand 'and from him to CN Seddon'. Given to Balliol with MSS 448, 449 and 450 by Mrs Barbara Pocock and NR Seddon (Balliol 1929) in memory of their father Cn Seddon (Balliol 1889), University Lecturer in Persian.

448. Persian Yūsufi, Jāmi 'al-fawā id, a treatise on medicine preceded (ff 1-5) by some anonymous medical verses. (late C16) 100ff. 6 3/4 x 4 1/2". Written in black and red, with a few illuminated headpieces. First leaf of text damaaged. [condition: unusable] Provenance: Given to Balliol with MSS 447, 449 and 450 by Mrs Barbara Pocock and NR Seddon (Balliol 1929) in memory of their father Cn Seddon (Balliol 1889), University Lecturer in Persian.

449. Persian. Jāmī ('Abd al-Rahmān), a selection from his poetry and prose. (AH 931/2 = AD 1525/6.) 189ff. Much disordered and some missing. 9 x 8 ". Little ornament. [condition: fair] Provenance: Given to Balliol with MSS 447, 448, and 450 by Mrs Barbara Pocock and NR Seddon (Balliol 1929) in memory of their father Cn Seddon (Balliol 1889), University Lecturer in Persian.

450. Persian. Jāmī, Dīwān, copied by Ahmad ibn Muhammad Taqī al-Shīrazī. (AH 1288 = AD 1871.) 316 ff. 8 3/4 x 6". No ornament. [condition: good] Provenance: Given to Balliol with MSS 447, 448, and 449 by Mrs Barbara Pocock and NR Seddon (Balliol 1929) in memory of their father Cn Seddon (Balliol 1889), University Lecturer in Persian.

MSS 1-50

MSS 51-100

MSS 101-150

MSS 151-200

MSS 201-250

MSS 251-300

MSS 301-350

MSS 351-400

MSS 401-450

MSS 451-475

- Anna Sander