The great scholar and palaeographer Sir Frederic Madden (1801-73) was
Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum (as it then was) when most
of the items in this 'Handlist' were acquired. The manuscripts here
represented, from the still expanding Additional collection, provide
examples of almost every kind of Middle English prose composition. Many
of the items in this 'Handlist' are well known, but some have been
previously overlooked and a surprising number remain unedited.