Jesus College has announced plans to release a digital version of Jesus College MS 94, the oldest known set of Oxford lecture notes.
An article posted on 1st April on Jesus College’s website announced that MS 94 will be accessible “for the first time to readers around the world” through the Digital Bodleian website by the end of April. This was enabled by alumni support and money from Jesus’ Development Disbursement Fund.
MS 94 is a collection of working papers and notes by Alexander Nickham (1157–1217), the first known “master” to “read publicly” or lecture in Oxford. It includes lectures from the 1190s on the Psalms and Treatise on the Strong Woman, a work on the roles of Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary in the medieval church.
Staff from Jesus College, the Bodleian Libraries and the Oxford Conservation Consortium performed conservation treatment to prevent damage to MS 94 during digitisation. The Consortium received the manuscript with a few edge tears, pleated pages and a detached upper board.
In addition to MS 94, the Duke Humfrey New Testament, a 13th-century translation of the New Testament into Old French, will be accessible to the public on Digital Bodleian. The manuscript, previously owned by King Jean II of France and members of the English royal family, was held in private ownership for 300 years before being acquired by the Bodleian. The Bodleian Libraries unveiled this copy of the New Testament in March as part of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Weston Library.
