Unpublished description by M.R. James of Cambridge, University Library, MS Gg.5.12 (Britton)

Between 1926 and 1930, M.R. James was employed by Cambridge University Library to prepare descriptions of its medieval manuscripts, with a view to superseding the information provided by the five-volume catalogue published between 1856 and 1867. In all, James prepared descriptions of over 1,200 of the Library's manuscripts. However, the unfinished (and often hurried) state of his work, together with the difficulty of deciphering his handwriting, meant that plans to publish his work in the years immediately after his death in 1936 had to be abandoned. Between 2002 and 2011, transcriptions of James's notes were compiled piecemeal by University Library staff, with a view to making them more widely available, but also to aid the preservation of the originals (now accessioned into the University Archives as UA ULIB 7/3/74). This transcription was prepared by Dr Martin Blake. For further information, see: James Freeman, 'Unpublished descriptions of western medieval manuscripts at Cambridge University Library', Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society (2020); James Freeman, 'M.R. James's descriptions', Cambridge University Library Special Collections Subject Guide (https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/manuscripts-university-archives/subject-guides/medieval-manuscripts-2/mr); Jayne Ringrose, 'The legacy of M.R. James in Cambridge University Library', in The legacy of M.R. James: Papers from the 1995 Cambidge Symposium, ed. by Lynda Dennison (Donington: Shaun Tyas, 2001), pp. 23-36.

1926年至1930年间，M.R.詹姆斯受雇于剑桥大学图书馆（Cambridge University Library），负责对该馆所藏中世纪手稿进行编目著录，以期取代1856年至1867年间刊行的五卷本目录所载的相关信息。詹姆斯共计完成了该馆逾1200份手稿的著录工作。然而，其成果尚未最终完成且往往较为仓促，加之其手写笔迹难以辨识，导致1936年他逝世后不久，出版其研究成果的计划被迫搁置。2002年至2011年间，剑桥大学图书馆工作人员陆续整理转录了詹姆斯的手稿笔记，此举既为推动这些资料的广泛传播，也助力原件的保护——该原件现以档案号UA ULIB 7/3/74入藏剑桥大学档案馆。本次转录工作由马丁·布莱克博士（Dr Martin Blake）完成。如需进一步了解相关信息，可参阅以下文献：詹姆斯·弗里曼《剑桥大学图书馆所藏未刊西方中世纪手稿著录》，载《剑桥书目学会会刊》（2020年）；詹姆斯·弗里曼《M.R.詹姆斯的手稿著录》，剑桥大学图书馆特藏主题指南（https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/manuscripts-university-archives/subject-guides/medieval-manuscripts-2/mr）；简·林格罗斯《M.R.詹姆斯在剑桥大学图书馆的遗产》，收录于《M.R.詹姆斯的遗产：1995年剑桥研讨会论文集》，林达·丹尼森编（多宁顿：肖恩·泰亚斯出版社，2001年），第23-36页。