MS 183, the Royal Letter Book, is an English late medieval manuscript containing contemporary copies of 374 letters, most of which belong to the reigns of Edward III (1327-1377) and Richard II (1377-1397). The manuscript further contains a few copies of letters from the reign of Henry IV (1399-1413) and the copy of a single letter from the reign of Henry V (1413-1422), as well as several letters between other correspondents. The overall date range of the original letters appears to be between ca.1340 and ca.1412.

As for the contents of the letters, this covers a very wide range of domestic and international affairs of state, and most of the original letters would have emanated from either the privy seal office or the signet office of either Edward III or Richard II, or they are addressed to one of these two kings. However, the collection also includes letters between other individuals.

This digitisation of the Royal Letter Book in the Centre for Research Collections is available on a CC BY 3.0 licence.

Click here to browse the MS 183 Royal Letter book digitisation

Click here for the Archives Online record for this collection

 

 

 

Header Image: Section of letter from MS 183: Royal Letter Book – page f.109v, The University of Edinburgh Library, CC BY 3.0