Over half of the manuscripts are in Latin. The collection is particularly strong in holdings of Italian manuscripts from the High Middle Ages through the Renaissance, as well as manuscripts produced in France and Germany. From cuttings of illuminated manuscript borders to massive choir books and from a late antique Bible fragment to early modern inventories - Houghton Library’s early (pre-1600) manuscript collections offer a window into medieval and Renaissance Europe.Īssembled through gifts and purchases over the past two centuries, Houghton’s wide-ranging collections of over 1500 codices, rolls, and fragments enable research into the literature, art, history, music, philosophy, and theology of Western Europe.