Cambridge University Library: Manuscripts

This is the main catalogue for the Manuscripts department, but please note that not all Manuscripts holdings are listed. The majority of our medieval manuscripts, for example, are catalogued in the five volumes of the Catalogue of the Manuscripts preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge. This can be found online as follows:

Vol.1 Vol.2 Vol.3 Vol.4 Vol.5 Index

Other material is catalogued on external websites such as Access to Archives (A2A), ArchivesHub, and the National Register of Archives, while others are only available in paper catalogues and the card catalogue found in the Manuscripts Reading Room. If you’re searching for material you believe may be held in Manuscripts but can’t locate on Janus, please try these other resources – and when in doubt, don’t hesitate to contact us.

We’re working as quickly as we can to catalogue all our post medieval material onto Janus.

Manuscripts and archives which are acquired normally fall into one or both of the following categories: 1) material concerning the University of Cambridge and its members; and 2) material which enhances or complements the Library's existing manuscript holdings. For a full statement of the Department's policy see http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/CDP2008_9.pdf

For information on the history of the University of Cambridge, see "A History of the University of Cambridge", edited by Christopher N. L. Brooke (Cambridge: C.U.P., 1988-97) 4 volumes (of which volume 2 is pending), as well as Elisabeth Leedham-Green, "A Concise History of the University of Cambridge" (Cambridge: C.U.P., 1996). For information on the history of Cambridge University Library, see "Cambridge University Library: a history", vol. 1, J. C. T. Oates, "From the beginnings to the Copyright Act of Queen Anne", and vol. 2, David McKitterick, "The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries" (Cambridge: C.U.P., 1986). There are numerous published guides to particular manuscripts, collections, and categories of manuscripts and collections held by the Department.