Hatton Manuscripts

  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 161 MSS. Hatton 1-6, 9-24, 26, 28-31, 36-8, 40-5, 47-51, 53-9, 61-3, 66-7, 69, 71-4, 76, 76, 77, 81-90, 92-4, 96-7, 99-102, 105-9, 111-16
  • Dates of Creation
      8th-16th century
  • Language of Material
      Latin, French, English, Russian, and Old English (ca.450-1100).
  • Physical Description
      91 shelfmarks

Scope and Content

The Hatton collection consists almost entirely of medieval manuscripts, including Gospels, Bibles, sermons, statutes and ecclesiastical constitutions, and Psalters. The manuscripts include Latin, French, English, Russian and Old English.

Administrative / Biographical History

Christopher Hatton, 1st Baron Hatton (1605-1670) was the eldest surviving son of Sir Christopher Hatton, the Elizabethan courtier. His strong royalist sympathies led him to retire to France in 1648, whence he returned after the Restoration. At various times he occupied minor political posts, but never rose to high office. He was a close friend of Clarendon and of a number of antiquaries, more especially Roger Dodsworth. Further details are given in the Dictionary of National Biography.

Access Information

Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card (for admissions procedures see http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/specialcollections).

Acquisition Information

The Hatton collection was bought by the Bodleian from Robert Scot, who purchased part of the library of Christopher Hatton. The collection came into the Library in September 1671.

Note

Collection level description created by Emily Tarrant, Department of Special Collections and Western Manuscripts.

Other Finding Aids

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 (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. 4026-4136.