The Chronicle of Melrose Abbey is the principal source for Scottish history in the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries; it is also a remarkable survival of a chronicle-manuscript that grew for over a century. It is thus of great importance to historians and palaeographers alike.
This new edition is accompanied by a detailed introduction, offering a full account of scribes; a collation of the manuscript; a discussion of the manuscript's evolution and binding-history in the light of its disbinding in 2005 and 2006; a new 'stratigraphic' approach to the chronicle's development; and a full account of the manuscript's history. There is also a discussion of Cistercian chronicling in the British Isles. Of particular interest is the recognition that the manuscript comprised part of British Library MS Cotton Julius B. XIII as well as Cotton Faustina B. IX, shedding new light on the nature of the original codex and its date. The book is accompanied by a DVD containing digitised images of the whole manuscript.
Dr DAUVIT BROUN teaches in the Department of History and Archaeology at the University of Glasgow.
JULIAN HARRISON is an Honorary Research Fellow of the University of Glasgow, and Curator of Medieval Manuscripts at the British Library.