Sir Isumbras - Manuscripts

Manuscripts

The story of Sir Isumbras is found in 9 manuscript versions, mostly dating to the fifteenth century or earlier, as well as five sixteenth century printed versions (at least one was estimated to have been published perhaps as early as 1530—see 1530 in poetry). In three of the manuscripts, only a fragment of the story survives:

• Oxford, University College MS 14
• Naples MS 13 B 9 (dated to 1457)
• Gray’s Inn MS 20 (dated to 1350)

A complete or nearly complete version of Sir Isumbras is found in these manuscripts:

• Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College MS 175 (mid-fifteenth century)
• Lincoln Cathedral MS 91, the Lincoln Thornton Manuscript (c. 1440)
• British Library MS Cotton Caligula A ii (second half of the fifteenth century)
• British Library MS Douce 261 (1564)
• National Library of Scotland Advocates MS 19.3.1 (late-fifteenth century)
• Bodleian Library MS Ashmole 61 (late-fifteenth century)