Illustrated Apocalypse manuscripts are manuscripts that contain the text of Revelation or a commentary on Revelation and also illustrations. Many of the more famous Apocalypse manuscripts were made in England c. 1250-1400.
Paul Meyer and Léopold Delisle, in their book L'Apocalypse en français au XIIIe siècle (Paris MS fr. 403), 2 vols., Paris, 1900-01, were the first scholars to try to list, describe and categorise the English Apocalypse manuscripts.
M. R. James also wrote about illustrated Apocalypse manuscripts in his book The Apocalypse in Art, London, 1931.
Since M. R. James' work, there have been a number of more recent studies by R. Freyhan, George Henderson, Peter Klein, Suzanne Lewis, Nigel Morgan and Lucy Sandler.
These manuscripts can be divided by the language and form of the Apocalypse text. Many manuscripts have a Latin text, others have an Anglo-Norman prose text and others have a French verse text combined with a Latin text. Two manuscripts do not have a separate text, but incorporate excerpts from the text into the illustrations.
The illustrations can be divided into several different iconographic groups. The manuscripts with a Latin text all belong to the same iconographic family. With a few exceptions, this is also true of the manuscripts with the French prose texts and also with the French verse-Latin texts. The Eton Apocalypse features a Jewish Antichrist, part of a larger anti-Jewish theme present throughout the manuscript.
This is a complete list of known English Apocalypse manuscripts of the 13th and 14th centuries.
Berlin, Kupferstichkabinet Blatt Inv. No. 1247Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale MS II.282Cambrai, Bibliothèque Municipale MS 422 Cambrai ApocalypseCambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 20 Corpus ApocalypseCambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 394Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum MS Add. 317Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum MS McClean 123 Nuneaton BookCambridge, Magdelene College MS F.4.5 Crowland ApocalypseCambridge, Magdelene College MS Pepys 1803 Pepys ApocalypseCambridge, Trinity College MS B.10.2Cambridge, Trinity College MS B.10.6Cambridge, Trinity College MS R.16.2 Trinity ApocalypseCambridge, University Library MS Gg 1.1Copenhagen, Kongelige Bibliothek MS Thott 89.4Dublin, Trinity College MS 64 Dublin ApocalypseEton College Library MS 177 Eton ApocalypseLisbon, Gulbenkian Museum MS L.A.139 Gulbenkian ApocalypseLondon, British Library MS Add. 18633London, British Library MS Add. 35166London, British Library MS Add. 38842London, British Library MS Add. 42555 Abingdon ApocalypseLondon, British Library MS Royal 15.D.II Welles/Greenfield ApocalypseLondon, British Library MS Royal 19.B.XV Queen Mary ApocalypseLondon, British Library MS Royal 2.D.XIIILondon, Lambeth Palace Library MS 209 Lambeth ApocalypseLondon, Lambeth Palace Library MS 434London, Lambeth Palace Library MS 75Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum MS Ludwig III.1 Getty/Dyson Perins ApocalypseMetz, Bibliothèque Municipale MS Salis 38 (no longer extant) Metz ApocalypseMoscow, State Lenin Library MS NH.1678New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS M.524 Morgan ApocalypseNew York, Public Library MS Spencer 57 Spencer ApocalypseNorwich, Central Library MS 287 Norwich ApocalypseOxford, Bodleian Library MS Ashmole 753Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Auct D.4.14Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Auct D.4.17 Bodleian ApocalypseOxford, Bodleian Library MS Bodley 401Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Canonici Bibl.62 Canonici ApocalypseOxford, Bodleian Library MS Douce 180 Douce ApocalypseOxford, Bodleian Library MS Selden Supra 38 Selden ApocalypseOxford, Bodleian Library MS Tanner 184 Tanner ApocalypseOxford, Lincoln College MS lat.16Oxford, New College MS D.65 New College ApocalypseOxford, University College MS 100Paris, Bibliothèque de Arsenal MS 5214Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France MS fr.403 Paris ApocalypseParis, Bibliothèque Nationale de France MS fr.9574Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France MS lat.10474Toulouse, Bibliothèque Municipale MS 815Yorkshire Apocalypse, private collection Yorkshire Apocalypse
