English Manuscript Statute Books and Registers of Writs

The Harvard Law School’s Collection
of Medieval English Statute Books and
Registers of Writs

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LISTINGS IN THE HOLLIS CATALOGUE

A general introduction to the HLL collection of manuscript statute books and registers of writs may be found here.

Listed below are the 58 manuscripts that comprise the collection. All of these manuscripts may be viewed in the Harvard University Library’s image-viewer called ‘Mirador’. (As an image-viewer we find this preferable to the former Page Delivery Service [PDS]. It does not at this point, however, always give as much detail in the left-hand navigation pane as does the PDS, which may still be reached through a link at the top of the Mirador view-screen.) All the manuscripts have sequence numbers listed in the left-hand margin in Mirador. Most of them have foliation accompanying the sequence numbers. (We warn that the foliation may change on the basis of our fuller descriptions.) We list below: the HLS Call Number, the general description taken from the HOLLIS Catalogue at the commencement of the project in 2014 (these will gradually be updated to reflect the more precise general description in the Ames metadata), the HOLLIS number, the number of images (which is slightly more than twice the number of folios), a link to Mirador, and a number for a note on the manuscript, which follows underneath it.

The categories in the HOLLIS descriptions are crude. By and large, if something is described as ‘Statuta vetera’ what we would expect to find in it is Magna Carta and a collection of statutes prior to 1327; if it is described as ‘Statuta nova’ what we would expect to find in it is a collection of statutes that postdate 1327, and if it is described as ‘Magna Carta cum statutis’ the statutes could be of any date, but a copy of Magna Carta will begin the collection.

Preliminary descriptions of 57 of the manuscripts may be reached by clicking here. We have not yet tackled HLS MS 172, other than what we say about it below.

HLS Call No	General Description	HOLLIS No	Images	Link to Mirador	Notes
HLS MS 10	Magna carta cum statutis	3697026	849	Link	1
	1. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 12	Magna carta cum statutis	3701472	102	Link	2
	2. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 19	Statuta nova	3735469	206	Link	3
	3. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 20	Statuta nova	3735517	281	Link	4
	4. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 21	Statuta nova	3735619	500	Link	5
	5. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 22	Registrum brevium	3746405	210	Link	6
	6. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, dates to the 15th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 23	Registrum brevium	3757950	422	Link	7
	7. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, dates to the 14th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 24	Registrum brevium with tracts	2432997	196	Link	8
	8. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, dates to the 13th century, after 1275; early 14th century before Edward II. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 24b	[Registrum brevium with tracts]	2432997	2	Link	9
	9. A single sheet, inserted in HLS MS 24, containing the explicit of the Excepiones ad cassandum brevia and the incipit of the Tractatus de bastardia with a portion, but not the whole, of that treatise. A learned introduction to this leaf may be found in J. S. Arkenburg, ‘The Story Behind a Stray Manuscript Leaf’, Harvard Library Bulletin, n.s. 8.4 (1997) 46–54 (online). He dates it to the 13th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript is incorporated in the description of HLS MS 24.
HLS MS 25	Registrum brevium	3758489	446	Link	10
	10. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, dates to the 15th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 26	Registrum brevium	3758826	532	Link	11
	11. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, dates to the 15th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 27	Registrum brevium	3758944	381	Link	12
	12. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, dates to the 15th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 28	Magna carta cum statutis	3784024	301	Link	13
	13. Both HOLLIS and Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, note that this manuscript contains a register of writs, which Hall dates to the 14th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 29	Statuta nova	3784077	453	Link	14
	14. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 30	Statuta nova	3784077	476	Link	15
	15. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 32	Magna carta cum statutis	3804796	289	Link	16
	16. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 33	Magna carta cum statutis	3804851	695	Link	17
	17. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, (but not HOLLIS) notes that this manuscript contains a register of writs, which he dates to the 14th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 34	Registrum brevium	3808183	720	Link	18
	18. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, dates to the 15th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 36	Magna carta cum statutis	3813510	226	Link	19
	19. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 38	Registrum brevium judicialium	3818429	260	Link	20
	20. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvii, dates to the 14th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 39	Magna carta cum statutis	3861147	341	Link	21
	21. Both HOLLIS and Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, note that this manuscript contains a register of writs, which Hall dates to the 13th century, after 1275 – early 14th century before Edward II. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 40	Statuta nova	3862241	753	Link	22
	22. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 42	Statuta nova	3872981	725	Link	23
	23. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 45	Registrum brevium	3887031	214	Link	24
	24. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, dates to the 14th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 48	Statuta nova	3935200	131	Link	25
	25. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 49	Statuta vetera, registrum brevium	3935210	195	Link	26
	26. Description taken from Baker, English Legal Manuscripts, 1, no. 72; HOLLIS has it as ‘Magna carta cum statutis’. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, notes that the register is fragmentary and dates to the 14th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 52	Registrum brevium	3944450	271	Link	27
	27. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, dates to the 14th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 53	Registrum brevium	3956590	721	Link	28
	28. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, dates to the 15th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 54	Magna carta cum statutis	3990350	329	Link	29
	29. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 55	Magna carta cum statutis	4002366	261	Link	30
	30. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 56	Magna carta cum statutis	4002379	489	Link	31
	31. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 57	Magna carta cum statutis	4015060	266	Link	32
	32. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 58	Magna carta cum statutis	4015114	350	Link	33
	33. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 59	Magna carta cum statutis	4028490	325	Link	34
	34. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 60	Registrum brevium	4028549	477	Link	35
	35. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, dates to the 14th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 61	Registrum brevium	4028596	451	Link	36
	36. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, dates to the 14th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 80	Statuta vetera and tracts	4199033	349	Link	37
	37. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 101	Magna carta cum statutis	4563783	377	Link	38
	38. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 155	Registrum brevium 1384	5520528	541	Link	39
	39. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, dates to the 14th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 160	Statuta vetera	5554947	156	Link	40
	40. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 161	Statuta vetera and tracts	5610637	309	Link	41
	41. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 162	Statuta vetera and tracts	5610732	425	Link	42
	42. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 163	Statuta nova	5680920	827	Link	43
	43. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 165	Registrum brevium	5680961	631	Link	44
	44. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, dates to the 15th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 166	Registrum brevium	5684268	412	Link	45
	45. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, dates to the 14th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 168	Registrum brevium	5699706	569	Link	46
	46. Hall, Early Registers, p. xxvi, dates to the 15th century. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 170	Statuta nova, 1 Edw. III to 9 Henry V	9023062	665	Link	47
	47. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 172	Magna carta (Sheriff's)	2702311	1	Link	48
	48. Not yet described. This is not a statute book, but a single sheet of Magna Carta. HOLLIS dates this copy to ca. 1327, but a hasty examination of the document (which is not easy to read) suggests that it is copy of the Charter issued around the time of Confirmatio cartarum (Oct. 1297). The date on the charter seems to be 28 March in the 26th year of the reign of the reign of a King Edward, which would be 28 March 1298, if the Edward in question were Edward I.
HLS MS 173	Statuta vetera	9026846	283	Link	49
	49. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 174	Statuta vetera	9026892	345	Link	50
	50. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 175	Statuta vetera and tracts	9028033	552	Link	51
	51. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 177	Statuta vetera	6857104	419	Link	52
	52. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 179	Statuta vetera and officium senescalli	9027080	445	Link	53
	53. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 182	Statuta vetera and legal forms	9027203	475	Link	54
	54. The ‘forms’ are counts, derived from Novae Narrationes. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 184	Statuta vetera, registrum brevium and tracts	9027248	368	Link	55
	55. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 185	Statuta nova 1 Edw. III to 9 Hen. VI	9027301	468	Link	56
	56. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 193	Registrum brevium, yearbooks, and tracts	4161989	483	Link	57
	57. Not in Hall, Early Registers. This is not, as suggested by the HOLLIS title, a register of writs, at least as that term is normally understood, but a collection of some writs and extracts from treatises but principally extracts from Year Books, designed to illustrate ‘placita personalia’. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
HLS MS 213	Magna carta cum statutis et tractatibus	9860534	194	Link	58
	58. A preliminary description of this manuscript may be found here.
	Total (approximate)		23,140