GEMMS: Gateway to Early Modern Manuscript Sermons
GEMMS IDGEMMS-MANUSCRIPT-001289
TitleThe Diary of John Manningham
ShelfmarkHarley MS 5353
Creation Date1602 - 1603
RepositoryBritish Library
Contents NoteThis manuscript contains the earliest known record of a performance of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (see the entry for Candlemas, 2 February 1602). It covers the period from January 1602 until April 1603, when John Manningham was a student at the Middle Temple. Other entries within this notebook include anecdotes, poems, inscriptions, and summaries of sermons.
Material FeaturesDuodecimo. Modern quarter crushed morocco on cloth boards gilt.
Associated Peoplemanuscript owner - Harley, Robertmanuscript owner - Manningham, John
Provenance
AcquisitionThe Harleian Library was founded by Robert Harley, First Earl of Oxford (1661–1724). According to Cyril Ernest Wright, Robert Harley ‘was primarily interested in English historical and political material and in volumes of sermons and theological controversy, sharing in the latter the taste of his Harley ancestors’. See Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani (London, 1972), p. xxxiv.
Source of DataA Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts, in the British Museum (1808), Vol. III, pp. 261-62; Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani (London, 1972); CELM; Hannah Yip.
Other NoteWritten in a small secretary hand. For an analysis of Manningham's sermon note-taking, see Mary Morrissey, Politics and the Paul's Cross Sermons, 1558-1642 (Oxford, 2011), pp. 40-41.
Sermons Contained
Sermon Reports ContainedSermon summaries --
Attached URLs:
URLNotes
www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-festival-of-twelfth-night-in-john-manninghams-diaryInformation about the reference to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in Harley MS 5353.
GEMMS record createdMarch 04, 2020
GEMMS record last editedMarch 10, 2020