Most of Marshall's oriental manuscripts are Hebrew, Coptic, or bilingual Coptic-Arabic, and Arabic, but there is also material in Armenian, Malay, Persian, Syriac and Turkish. The collection contains a number of Hebrew grammars and grammatical commentaries.
The full shelfmarks of the collection are: MSS. Marshall Or. 1, 5, 5-10, 12, 17, 22-4, 26-7, 30, 31-42, 44-6, 49-55, 57, 59, 64-71, 73, 76-7, 79, 81-3, 85, 88, 91-3, 95-7, 99, 100-1, 106, 111-13, 118, 131 (R), 133, 136 (R), 137-9.
Thomas Marshall (1621-85) was a philologist. He was educated at Lincoln College, where he later became Rector. He spent over twenty years in the Low Countries, mainly as chaplain to the Company of Merchant Adventurers, where he collected some of the Armenian and Coptic material in this collection. He returned to England in 1672, and was appointed Dean of Gloucester in 1681. Further details are given in Dictionary of National Biography.
Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card (for admissions procedures see http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk).
The manuscripts were bequeathed to the University by Marshall in 1685, but were apparently not received until 1689-90.
Many of the Marsh manuscripts were at one time placed in the 'MS. Bodley Or.' and 'Rott. Or.' series, others formerly possessed 'MS. Auct' and 'Sub. Fen.' shelfmarks.
Collection level description created by Susan Thomas, Department of Special Collections and Western Manuscripts.
Brief descriptions are in Falconer Madan, et al., A summary catalogue of western manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford which have not hitherto been catalogued in the Quarto series, with references to the oriental and other manuscripts (7 vols. in 8 [vol. II in 2 parts], Oxford, 1895-1953; reprinted, with corrections in vols. I and VII, Munich, 1980), vol. II, nos. 5233-5327 and 8623-8686.
A card catalogue, arranged by language, located in the Oriental Reading Room contains brief descriptions of the manuscripts.
J. UriBibliothecae Bodleianae codicum manuscriptorum Orientalium catalogus pars prima (Oxford 1787). See the Arabic Christian, Arabic Mohammedan and Coptic sections.
A. Nicoll Catalogi codicum manuscriptorum Orientalium Bibliothecae Bodleianae pars secunda, Arabicos complectens (Oxford, 1835). See the Arabic Christian, Arabic Mohammedan and Samaritan Arabic sections.
A. Neubauer and A.E. Cowley Catalogue of the Hebrew manuscripts in the Bodleian library, and in the College Libraries of Oxford, 2 vols., Catalogi Codd. MSS. Bibliothecae Bodleianae pars xii, (Oxford, 1886-1906), vol. 1. More recently, a 'Supplement of Addenda and Corrigenda', which has to be used in conjunction with Neubauer's Catalogue, was published (Oxford 1994).
E. Sachau, H. Eth and A.F.L. Beeston Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindstn, and Pusht manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, 3 vols. (Oxford, 1889-1953), vols. 1-2.
Sukias Baronian and F.C. Conybeare Catalogue of the Armenian manuscripts in the Bodleian Library (Oxford, 1918).
A. Dillmann Catalogus Codicum Manuscriptorum Bibliothecae Bodleianae, pars vii. Codices Aethiopici (Oxford, 1848).
Richard Greentree, and Edward Williams Byron Nicholson Catalogue of Malay manuscripts and manuscripts relating to the Malay language in the Bodleian library (Oxford, 1910).
