Catalogue of the Armenian Manuscripts in the Cambridge University Library

This collection which comprises 25 full manuscripts as well as one in Armeno-Turkish and two vellum fragments, though originating in the 18th century, is mainly constituted by small bequests and purchases from the last decades of the last, and early years of the current century. The detailed description of each codex afforded in the present volume expands on the Ellis’ handlist of 1926, briefly listing the 16 items then in the library’s possession. The holdings are representative of Armenian book arts in consisting of ecclesiastical genres designed for scriptural, liturgical and didactic functions. Their chronological range extends from the 13th to the 19th centuries, about half dating directly or indirectly to the 17th as commissions displaying merchant munificence. Equally diverse in provenance, approximately four fifths evince a modicum of illumination, while half exhibit a full programme of miniatures and marginal scenes.