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. 1247
Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale MS II.282
Cambrai, Bibliothèque Municipale MS 422 Cambrai Apocalypse
Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 20 Corpus Apocalypse
Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 394
Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum MS Add. 317
Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum MS McClean 123 Nuneaton Book
Cambridge, Magdelene College MS F.4.5 Crowland Apocalypse
Cambridge, Magdelene College MS Pepys 1803 Pepys Apocalypse
Cambridge, Trinity College MS B.10.2
Cambridge, Trinity College MS B.10.6
Cambridge, Trinity College MS R.16.2 Trinity Apocalypse
Cambridge, University Library MS Gg 1.1
Copenhagen, Kongelige Bibliothek MS Thott 89.4
Dublin, Trinity College MS 64 Dublin Apocalypse
Eton College Library MS 177 Eton Apocalypse
Lisbon, Gulbenkian Museum MS L.A.139 Gulbenkian Apocalypse
London, British Library MS Add. 18633
London, British Library MS Add. 35166
London, British Library MS Add. 38842
London, British Library MS Add. 42555 Abingdon Apocalypse
London, British Library MS Royal 15.D.II Welles/Greenfield Apocalypse
London, British Library MS Royal 19.B.XV Queen Mary Apocalypse
London, British Library MS Royal 2.D.XIII
London, Lambeth Palace Library MS 209 Lambeth Apocalypse
London, Lambeth Palace Library MS 434
London, Lambeth Palace Library MS 75
Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum MS Ludwig III.1 Getty/Dyson Perins Apocalypse
Metz, Bibliothèque Municipale MS Salis 38 (no longer extant) Metz Apocalypse
Moscow, State Lenin Library MS NH.1678
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS M.524 Morgan Apocalypse
New York, Public Library MS Spencer 57 Spencer Apocalypse
Norwich, Central Library MS 287 Norwich Apocalypse
Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Ashmole 753
Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Auct D.4.14
Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Auct D.4.17 Bodleian Apocalypse
Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Bodley 401
Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Canonici Bibl.62 Canonici Apocalypse
Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Douce 180 Douce Apocalypse
Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Selden Supra 38 Selden Apocalypse
Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Tanner 184 Tanner Apocalypse
Oxford, Lincoln College MS lat.16
Oxford, New College MS D.65 New College Apocalypse
Oxford, University College MS 100
Paris, Bibliothèque de Arsenal MS 5214
Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France MS fr.403 Paris Apocalypse
Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France MS fr.9574
Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France MS lat.10474
Toulouse, Bibliothèque Municipale MS 815
Yorkshire Apocalypse, private collection Yorkshire Apocalypse
