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As part of their mission to preach faith and morals, the medieval Dominicans often served as allies of parochial clergy and the episcopate. Scholars such as M. Michèle Mulchahey have shown that on the Continent, the Order of Preachers often helped to educate parish priests. We have evidence that thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Dominicans were allowing parochial clergy to attend their schools in England as well. Much of this evidence is codicological. Two English codices of William Peraldus's sermons provide evidence of a provenance relating to a parish church: London Gray's Inn 20, a collection of his sermons on the Gospels, was owned by a parish priest, and Cambridge Peterhouse 211, a manuscript of his sermons on the Epistles, contains an act issued by the rector of a parish church. Another manuscript of Peraldus's sermons contains synodal statutes. As the Order of Preachers was outside of the diocesan chain of command, these statutes point to the use of these sermons by those who were subject to the episcopate. Since the Dominicans were normally forbidden from sharing their model sermon literature with secular clergy, these codices suggest a program on the part of the English province of the Order of Preachers to make sure that diocesan clergy could attend Dominican schools in order to gain the skills necessary to preach the basic doctrines and morals of the Christian faith to England's laity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three definitions of marginalia are distinguished: codicological, polygraphic, and "postmanufaturing". Codicologically and polygraphically marginalia are defined as additional information records which appear during the book production process. Marginalia are texts and signs (and miniatures) of a functional nature, which are usually placed behind the main text of the book. The "postmanufacturing" attitude focuses on the marginalia which have an indefinite content and which appear in the process of book functioning in society. The development of marginalia scientific studies started at the beginning of the 19th century in Great Britain, meanwhile in Lithuania it started in the sixth decade of the 20th century. In the source studies, most has been achieved in the field of initial fixing. Information about marginalia was first recorded in card catalogues, later in old prints and electronic catalogues. Half of them are published as duplicates and facsimiles. Historically, three main marginalia research trends have formed: philological, historical and book science (perceiving book history as its part). Currently, the largest work in investigating marginalia is done by researchers from Great Britain, the USA and Russia. Marginalia are invoked in the investigation of polygraphy, codicology, reading history, book culture and book art. In Lithuania, more researches in history of reading, book culture, book art, records and sign history are conducted. Historiography development possibilities are intended for the research of library, bookbindery, book trade history and biographistic studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses several hidden aspects of the quire structure of St. John's College in Cambridge, England's Manuscript S. 54. A quire is a set of 24 or 25 sheets of papers of the same size and quality. These were discovered by manuscript conservators and digitizers while working on a project funded by Great Britain's Arts and Humanities Research Council titled "Scriptorium: Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts Online." According to the article, S. 54 is a collection of sixteen carols and two other lyrics dating from the late 15th century. The disbinding and photography of the manuscript revealed that the eight bifolia or two-leaved folds, were joined together in pairs at the top of the manuscript spine. Information is given for the S. 54's quadrifolium and binding.

The collection of three thousand Hebrew manuscripts at the Bodleian Library in Oxford is the largest in the United Kingdom. These manuscripts arrived at the Bodleiana over three centuries, from the first manuscripts collected by Christian Hebraists of the seventeenth century down to the various acquisitions during the nineteenth century. A catalogue compiled by Adolf Neubauer over eighteen years and published in 1886 is marred by serious flaws, mostly in the classification of the manuscripts and the indexes. By contrast the Supplement of Malachi Beit-Arié (`994), allows the researcher to underline the advances in Hebrew codicology and palaeography achieved since 1886. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]