This is a list of notable

codices The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

. For the purposes of this compilation, as in

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

, a "

codex The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

" is a

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

book published from the

late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

period through the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. (The majority of the books in both the

list of manuscripts This is a list of famous manuscripts. Historical * Carte Manuscripts * Codex Nuttall 16th century, Mixtec * Red Book of Hergest 14th about century, Welsh * Voynich manuscript unknown language * Rohonc Codex mostly known as an unknown or 19th- ...

and

list of illuminated manuscripts This is a list of illuminated manuscripts. 2nd century *Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, cod. suppl. gr. 1294 (Romance Papyrus) 3rd century *Oxford, Sackler Library, Oxyrhynchus Pap. 2331 (Heracles Papyrus) *British Library, Papyrus 3053 ( ...

are codices.) More modern works that include "codex" as part of their name are not listed here. The following codices are usually named for their most famous resting-places, such as a city or library.

List

Abrogans ''Abrogans'', also ''German Abrogans'' or ''Codex Abrogans'' (St Gall, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 911), is a Middle Latin–Old High German glossary, whose preserved copy in the Abbey Library of St Gall is regarded as the oldest preserved book in th ...

Aleppo Codex The Aleppo Codex ( he, כֶּתֶר אֲרָם צוֹבָא, romanized: , lit. 'Crown of Aleppo') is a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The codex was written in the city of Tiberias in the tenth century CE (circa 920) under the ...

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

Al-Ousta Codex Al-Ousta Codex, also known under its library classification BnF 1314-1315, is a 14th-century Illuminated manuscript, illuminated Bible codex (2 volumes) containing the 24 canonical books of the Hebrew Bible, written in Sephardi square script with ...

Codices Ambrosiani The Codices Ambrosiani A–E are five biblical manuscripts dating to the 6th–11th centuries CE now in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan. They are written by different hands and in different alphabets. The codices contain scattered passages from ...

Codex Amiatinus The Codex Amiatinus (also known as the Jarrow Codex) is considered the best-preserved manuscript of the Latin Vulgate versionBruce M. Metzger, ''The Text of the New Testament'' (Oxford University Press 2005), p. 106. of the Christian Bible. It w ...

Codex Argenteus The Codex Argenteus (Latin for "Silver Book/Codex") is a 6th-century illuminated manuscript, originally containing part of the 4th-century translation of the Christian Bible into the Gothic language. Traditionally ascribed to the Arian bis ...

* Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection *

Codex Arundel Codex Arundel, (British Library, Arundel, 263) is a bound collection of pages of notes written by Leonardo da Vinci and dating mostly from between 1480 and 1518. The codex contains a number of treatises on a variety of subjects, including mechani ...

* Codex Astensis *

Codex Atlanticus The Codex Atlanticus (Atlantic Codex) is a 12-volume, bound set of drawings and writings (in Italian) by Leonardo da Vinci, the largest single set. Its name indicates the large paper used to preserve original Leonardo notebook pages, which was us ...

Codex Augiensis Codex Augiensis, designated by Fp or 010 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1029 ( von Soden) is a 9th-century diglot uncial manuscript of the Pauline Epistles in double parallel columns of Greek and Latin on the same page. Description The ...

* Auraicept na n-Éces * Codex Aureus of Echternach *

Codex Aureus of Lorsch The ''Codex Aureus of Lorsch'' or Lorsch Gospels (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. lat. 50, and Alba Iulia, Biblioteca Documenta Batthyaneum, s.n.) is an illuminated Gospel Book written in Latin between 778 and 820, roughly coinciding with t ...

* Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram *

Book of Ballymote The ''Book of Ballymote'' (, RIA MS 23 P 12, 275 foll.), was written in 1390 or 1391 in or near the town of Ballymote, now in County Sligo, but then in the tuath of Corann. Production and history This book was compiled towards the end of the ...

Berlin Codex The Berlin Codex (also known as the Akhmim Codex), given the accession number ''Papyrus Berolinensis'' 8502, is a Coptic manuscript from the 5th century AD, unearthed in Akhmim, Egypt. In Cairo, in January 1896, Carl Reinhardt bought the codex, ...

Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis, designated by siglum D or 05 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 5 (in the von Soden of New Testament manuscript), is a codex of the New Testament dating from the 5th century writ ...

Codex Boernerianus Codex Boernerianus, designated by G, G or 012 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), α 1028 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a small New Testament codex, measuring 25 x 18 cm, written in ...

Codex Borbonicus The Codex Borbonicus is an Aztec codex written by Aztec priests shortly before or after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. It is named after the Palais Bourbon in France and kept at the Bibliothèque de l'Assemblée Nationale in Paris. The ...

* Aztec codices#Boturini Codex *

Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent ...

Codex Cairensis The Codex Cairensis (also: ''Codex Prophetarum Cairensis'', ''Cairo Codex of the Prophets'') is a Hebrew manuscript containing the complete text of the Hebrew Bible's Nevi'im (Prophets). It has traditionally been described as "the oldest dated He ...

Codex Calixtinus The (also ''Compostellus'') is the main witness for the 12th-century , or the Book of Saint James. It is a pseudepigraph attributed to Pope Callixtus II; its principal author or compilator is referred to as "Pseudo-Callixtus", often identified wi ...

Codex Claromontanus Codex Claromontanus, symbolized by Dp, D2 or 06 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1026 ( von Soden), is a Greek-Latin diglot uncial manuscript of the New Testament, written in an uncial hand on vellum. The Greek and Latin texts are on facing p ...

* Maya codices (Cortesianus Codex) *

Codex Cumanicus The Codex Cumanicus is a linguistic manual of the Middle Ages, designed to help Catholic missionaries communicate with the Cumans, a nomadic Turkic people. It is currently housed in the Library of St. Mark, in Venice (BNM ms Lat. Z. 549 (=1597 ...

Damascus Pentateuch The Damascus Pentateuch or Codex Sassoon 507 is a 10th-century Hebrew Bible codex, consisting of the almost complete Pentateuch, the Five Books of Moses. The codex was copied by an unknown scribe, replete with Masoretic annotations. The beginning ...

De arte venandi cum avibus ''De Arte Venandi cum Avibus'', literally ''On The Art of Hunting with Birds'', is a Latin treatise on ornithology and falconry written in the 1240s by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. One of the surviving manuscripts is dedicated to his son ...

Dresden Codex The ''Dresden Codex'' is a Maya civilization, Maya book, which was believed to be the oldest surviving book written in the Americas, dating to the 11th or 12th century. However, in September 2018 it was proven that the Maya Codex of Mexico, pre ...

Codex Ebnerianus Codex Ebnerianus, ''Minuscule 105'' (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 257 ( Soden), is a Greek language illuminated manuscript of the New Testament, though missing the Book of Revelation. Formerly it was labeled by 105e, 48a, and 24p. De ...

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) designated by the siglum C or 04 {in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 3 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a ma ...

* Codex Eyckensis *

Exeter Book The Exeter Book, also known as the Codex Exoniensis or Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501, is a large codex of Old English poetry, believed to have been produced in the late tenth century AD. It is one of the four major manuscripts of Old Engli ...

Flateyjarbók ''Flateyjarbók'' (; "Book of Flatey") is an important medieval Icelandic manuscript. It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and by the Latin name ''Codex Flateyensis''. It was commissioned by Jón Hákonarson and produced by the priests and scribes ...

Codex Gigas The ''Codex Gigas'' ("Giant Book"; cs, Obří kniha) is the largest extant medieval illuminated manuscript in the world, at a length of . Very large illuminated bibles were a typical feature of Romanesque monastic book production, but even w ...

Codex Grandior The ''Codex Grandior'' ("Larger Codex") was a large single-volume copy of the Bible in an Old Latin translation that was made for or by Cassiodorus. It was one of a number of works held at his monastic foundation Vivarium, near Squillace, Italy. ...

Codex Hierosolymitanus Codex Hierosolymitanus (also called the Bryennios manuscript or the Jerusalem Codex, often designated simply "H" in scholarly discourse) is an 11th-century Greek manuscript. It contains copies of a number of early Christian texts including the only ...

* Hildegard of Bingen#Works *

Hitda Codex The Hitda Codex is an eleventh-century codex The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' i ...

Hypatian Codex The Hypatian Codex (also known as Hypatian Letopis or Ipatiev Letopis; be, Іпацьеўскі летапіс; russian: Ипатьевская летопись; uk, Іпатіївський літопис) is a ''svod'' (compendium) of three ''l ...

In Lebor Ogaim ''In Lebor Ogaim'' ("The Book of Ogams"), also known as the Ogam Tract, is an Old Irish treatise on the ogham alphabet. It is preserved in R.I.A. MS 23 P 12 308–314 (AD 1390), T.C.D. H.3.18, 26.1–35.28 (AD 1511) and National Library of ...

Book of Kells The Book of Kells ( la, Codex Cenannensis; ga, Leabhar Cheanannais; Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS A. I. 8 sometimes known as the Book of Columba) is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New ...

Codex Koridethi The Codex Koridethi, also named ''Codex Coridethianus'', designated by siglum Θ or 038 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 050 ( Soden), is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, dated palaeographically to the 9th century CE. The manu ...

Lebor Gabála Érenn ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of the Taking of Ireland"), known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'', is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language intended to be a history of Ireland and the Irish fro ...

Lebor na gCeart ''Lebor na Cert'', or the ''Book of Rights'', is a book of Early Irish laws, from medieval Ireland. The text details the rents and taxes paid by the King of Cashel, to various others in Ireland. The Great Book of Lecan and the Book of Ballymote ...

Codex Leicester __NOTOC__ The Codex Leicester (also briefly known as the Codex Hammer) is a collection of scientific writings by Leonardo da Vinci. The Codex is named after Thomas Coke, who purchased it in 1717; he later became the Earl of Leicester. The manu ...

Leningrad Codex The Leningrad Codex ( la, Codex Leningradensis [Leningrad Book]; he, כתב יד לנינגרד) is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in Hebrew, using the Masoretic Text and Tiberian vocalization. According to its colopho ...

* Cologne Mani-Codex *

Madrid Codex (Maya) The Madrid Codex (also known as the Tro-Cortesianus Codex or the Troano Codex)García Saíz et al. 2010, p. 54. is one of three surviving pre-Columbian Maya books dating to the Postclassic period of Mesoamerican chronology (''circa'' 900–1521 A ...

Codex Manesse The Codex Manesse (also Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift or Pariser Handschrift) is a ''Liederhandschrift'' (manuscript containing songs), the single most comprehensive source of Middle High German ''Minnesang'' poetry, written and illustrat ...

* Matenadaran MS 7117 *

Codex Mendoza The Codex Mendoza is an Aztec codex, believed to have been created around the year 1541. It contains a history of both the Aztec rulers and their conquests as well as a description of the daily life of pre-conquest Aztec society. The codex is wri ...

Morgan Bible The Morgan Bible (mostly Morgan Library & Museum, New York, Ms M. 638), also called the Morgan Picture Bible, Crusader Bible, Shah Abbas Bible or Maciejowski Bible, is a unique medieval illuminated manuscript. It is a picture book Bible consisting ...

Nag Hammadi library The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the " Chenoboskion Manuscripts" and the "Gnostic Gospels") is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Thirteen leather-bound papyr ...

Novgorod Codex The Novgorod Codex (russian: Новгородский кодекс) is the oldest book of the Rus’, unearthed on July 13, 2000 in Novgorod. It is a palimpsest consisting of three bound wooden tablets containing four pages filled with wax, on w ...

Nowell Codex The Nowell Codex is the second of two manuscripts comprising the bound volume Cotton MS Vitellius A XV, one of the four major Anglo-Saxon poetic manuscripts. It is most famous as the manuscript containing the unique copy of the epic poem ''Beow ...

* Nürnberger Handschrift GNM 3227a *

Paris Codex The ''Paris Codex'' (also known as the ''Codex Peresianus'' and ''Codex Pérez'') is one of four surviving generally accepted pre-Columbian Maya books dating to the Postclassic Period of Mesoamerican chronology (c. 900–1521 AD). The document i ...

Peterborough Chronicle The ''Peterborough Chronicle'' (also called the Laud manuscript and the E manuscript) is a version of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicles'' originally maintained by the monks of Peterborough Abbey in Cambridgeshire. It contains unique information abo ...

* Codex Pisanus * Codex Rabbulensis *

Codex Regius Codex Regius ( la, Cōdex Rēgius, "Royal Book" or "King's Book"; is, Konungsbók) or GKS 2365 4º is an Icelandic codex in which many Old Norse poems from the ''Poetic Edda'' are preserved. Thought to have been written during the 1270s, it i ...

* Codex Rehdigerianus *

Rohonc Codex The Rohonc Codex () is an illustrated manuscript book by an unknown author, with a text in an unknown language and writing system, that surfaced in Hungary in the early 19th century. The book's origin and the meaning of its text and illustrations ...

* Codex Quetzalecatzin *

Codex Runicus The Codex Runicus is a codex of 202 pages written in medieval runes around the year 1300 which includes the oldest preserved Nordic provincial law, Scanian Law (''Skånske lov'') pertaining to the Danish land Scania (Skåneland). Codex Runicus i ...

Codex Sangallensis 878 Codex Sangallensis 878 is a manuscript kept in the library of the Abbey of St. Gall, in Switzerland. It dates to the 9th century and probably originates in Fulda monastery. It contains mainly excerpts of grammatical texts, including the ''Ars minor' ...

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...

Codex Suprasliensis The Codex Suprasliensis is a 10th-century Cyrillic literary monument, the largest extant Old Church Slavonic canon manuscript and the oldest Slavic literary work in Poland. As of September 20, 2007, it is on UNESCO's Memory of the World list. The ...

Codex Tchacos Codex Tchacos is an ancient Egyptian Coptic papyrus, which contains early Christian gnostic texts from approximately 300 AD: the Letter of Peter to Philip, the First Apocalypse of James, the Gospel of Judas, and a fragment of the Book of Allog ...

* Maya codices (Troano Codex) *

Codex Usserianus Primus Codex Usserianus Primus (Dublin, Trinity College Library, 55) is an early 7th-century Old Latin Gospel Book. It is dated palaeographically to the 6th or 7th century. It is designated by r (traditional system). Description The manuscript is damag ...

Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209 The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

Codex Vigilanus The ''Codex Vigilanus'' or ''Codex Albeldensis'' (Spanish: ''Códice Vigilano'' or ''Albeldense'') is an illuminated compilation of various historical documents accounting for a period extending from antiquity to the 10th century in Hispania. ...

Codex Vindobonensis 795 The Codex Vindobonensis 795 (Vienna Austrian National Library Codex) is a 9th-century manuscript, most likely compiled in 798 or shortly thereafter (after Arno of Salzburg returned from Rome to become archbishop). It contains letters and treatises ...

* Codex Vindobonensis B 11093 *

Codex Wallerstein The so-called Codex Wallerstein or ''Vonn Baumanns Fechtbuch'' (Oettingen-Wallerstein Cod. I.6.4o.2, Augsburg University library) is a 16th-century convolution of three 15th-century fechtbuch manuscripts, with a total of 221 pages. The inside o ...

* Chronicle of Henry of Livonia (Codex Zamoscianus) *

Codex Zouche-Nuttall The Codex Zouche-Nuttall or Codex Tonindeye is an accordion-folded pre-Columbian document of Mixtec pictography, now in the collections of the British Museum. It is one of about 16 manuscripts from Mexico that are entirely pre-Columbian in origin ...

Notes and references

{{Books *List

Codices The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

Textual scholarship