Unpublished description by M.R. James of Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.10.50 (John Mirke, Festial)

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 For further information, see: James Freeman, 'Unpublished descriptions of western medieval manuscripts at Cambridge University Library', Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society (2020); James Freeman,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.

自1926年至1930年间，M.R. James受聘于剑桥大学图书馆，负责编纂其中世纪手稿的描述，旨在取代1856年至1867年间出版的五卷本目录所提供的信息。总计，James编纂了图书馆超过1200份手稿的描述。然而，由于他的工作未完成且常常匆忙，加之其书法难以辨认，因此在他1936年去世后不久，出版其作品的计划不得不被放弃。2002年至2011年间，由图书馆工作人员逐步整理了James的笔记副本，旨在使这些笔记更加广泛地传播，同时也为了帮助保存原始文献（现已归档于剑桥大学档案馆，编号为UA ULIB 7/3/74）。该副本由马丁·布莱克博士整理。欲了解更多信息，请参阅：James Freeman，《剑桥大学图书馆未公开发表的中世纪西方手稿描述》，载《剑桥文献学会会刊》（2020年）；James Freeman，《M.R. James的描述》，剑桥大学图书馆特种收藏主题指南（https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/manuscripts-university-archives/subject-guides/medieval-manuscripts-2/mr）；Jayne Ringrose，《M.R. James在剑桥大学图书馆的遗产》，收录于《1995年剑桥研讨会论文集》，由Lynda Dennison编辑（Donington: Shaun Tyas，2001年），第23-36页。