Harleian Manuscripts, the

Harleian Manuscripts, the,
a collection of manuscripts made by R. Harley , first earl of Oxford, and augmented by his son Edward , the second earl ( 1689 – 1741 ). It consisted of some 50,000 books, 350,000 pamphlets, and over 7,000 volumes of manuscripts, including early biblical texts in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, texts of classical authors and church Fathers, papal bulls and registers, deeds, charters, state papers, etc. The manuscripts were bought by Parliament in 1753 after Edward's death and placed in the British Museum: they are now in the British Library. The Harleian Society was founded in 1869 for the publication of heraldic visitations, pedigrees, etc.