Medieval Manuscripts at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library: Past and Present

Abstract

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the few medieval manuscripts owned by the University of Toronto were primarily valued for their artefactual interest. With the growth of the School of Graduate Studies and the establishment of the Centre for Medieval Studies, the collection came to be seen as supporting the research needs of faculty and advanced students. A library collection development policy mirroring that evolution emerged in the 1960s and has continued to expand to meet present needs, not only of the traditional disciplines of codicology and palaeography but also those of book historians.