Manuscript of 'The Vision of Piers Plowman' by William Langland and 'La Estorie del Evangelie'

This 'Piers Plowman' manuscript is written in a set book-hand on both sides of 97 folio leaves of vellum and is bound in modern white pig skin. The first page of the manuscript is decorated with an illuminated capital in blue, with red and brown ink penwork heightened with gold; the capital at the beginning of each Passus is blue with red ink decorations; Latin words in the text, names and the beginning and end of each Passus are written in red ink.

'La Estorie del Evangelie', a manuscript poem of 2206 lines, is written in the same book hand as 'The Vision of Piers Plowman', on both sides of 17 folio leaves of vellum. A space has been left for the initial 'S' but there is otherwise no rubrication, though spaces possibly for illustration, appear between the various sections of the manuscript.

Details of William Langland's life are chiefly supplied from his work The Vision of Piers Plowman. He was born around 1330, probably in Shropshire, and is thought to have been educated in a monastery, possibly at Great Malvern. Piers Plowman was produced in three versions (1362, 1377, and 1392).

Open, subject to the conditions outlined at fonds level