The Cædmon manuscript (Bodl. MS Junius 11)

An angel guards the gate of Paradise as Adam and Eve leave, p. 46.

Colloquial name(s): The Cædmon manuscript, the Junius manuscript, the Junius manuscript of Oxford

Official name(s): Great Britain, Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Junius 11

Date: c. 1000 (source and source), c. 1000 or c. 930-60 (source)

Origin: Christ Church(?), Canterbury(?), England (source)

Online facsimile available via: LUNA (high-quality but not all folios) and Early Manuscripts at Oxford University (low-quality full facsimile)

The Cædmon manuscript is named after an early theory that it might have been the work of Cædmon - although is no longer considered credible, the name has stuck (source). It was compiled in two stages (source). The initial version of the manuscript contained the poems Genesis, Exodus and Daniel and was the work of a single scribe (source). Later, the final poem (Christ and Satan) was added by several other scribes (source). The names of the poems are all modern - they are untitled in the manuscript (source).

The manuscript contains numerous fine pen drawings of religious topics that were executed by two independent illustrators (source). The first scribe left spaces for other illustrations that were never completed (source).

These drawings are invaluable as an indication of the dress and everyday life of people in late Anglo-Saxon England.

Basic descriptions of the illustrations are provided by LUNA in the left-hand information bar upon clicking on each illustration.