The collection

 

The collection consisting of approximately 2.180 manuscripts reflecting a variety of periods and subjects. The vast majority comes from disentailed collections, while a small group comes from the former University of Cervera. The ancient cathedral of Girona has also contributed 54 manuscripts, which were purchased in 1857 by Marià Aguiló and are now the oldest and most valuable in the collection. In general, the collection contains medieval manuscripts that date from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries, with a clear predominance of religious subject matter. Many of the manuscripts feature beautiful miniatures. The oldest manuscript, which dates from the tenth century, contains a commentary on St Matthew by St Jerome and a commentary on St Mark by the Venerable Bede. 

 

The most valuable nucleus corresponds to the manuscripts of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, with important pieces for history and Catalan, Spanish and Latin literature. The Crònica del rei Jaume of 1343 stands out, the first version in Catalan preserved.

 

Regarding the manuscripts from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, Catalan chronicles and chronicles of religious orders stand out, such as the Annals del convent de Santa Caterina de Barcelona. Special mention must also go to El Livro de Duarte Barbosa of 1524, a description of geography and trade along the coastline of the Indian Ocean, and a celebrated cookbook known as the Book of Sent Soví, accompanied by a treatise on perfume, a treatise on confectionary, and two treatises on veterinary medicine in Catalan by Manuel Dies de Calatayud which are all included in the Miscel·lània catalana: Ms. 68.

 

The Rare Book and Manuscript CRAI Library houses a small collection of manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Coptic, Ottoman Turkish and Armenian. You can also find a Chinese grammar, books of sermons in Filipino Tagalog and in Cebuano. And, in Ms. 1808, a glossary and a conversation guide for some indigenous languages in the Guyana area still being spoken in the eighteenth century.

 

 

  Catalogs and inventories

 

 

 

  Manuscripts in the online catalogue

 

More than 600 manuscripts are listed in the online catalogue, under the category Genre = manuscripts

 

 

  Special collections 

 

Catalogue of manuscripts in convent libraries	Manuscripts recovered by Marià Aguiló	Literary Boards of the Royal College of Surgery of Barcelona

  Manuscripts of special fields 

Hebrew manuscripts and manuscripts in Aramaic

 Former owners

 

  On line manuscripts in the University of Barcelona Digital Heritage Library (BiPaDi)

 

 

If you want to know how to cite the old collection and use the images of the Rare Book and Manuscript CRAI Library in your academic work, access the resource The old collection of academic work: some recommendations (Catalan)