UCLA Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies | Richard & Mary Rouse Manuscripts

In addition to being the driving force behind the establishment of the Center’s History of the Book Lecture series, Richard and Mary Rouse have done much to promote medieval and Renaissance studies at UCLA. Richard Rouse, Professor Emeritus in UCLA’s Department of History, has mentored many students, both in his palaeography classes and through his work with CMRS Research Assistants; Mary Rouse served as managing editor of the CMRS’s internationally respected journal Viator for twenty-two years, prior to her retirement in 1999.

Detail of initial at the beginning of Maccabees I in 13th c. Italian manuscript.

Together, Richard and Mary have spent their lives studying the history, production, and use of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, and the history of the libraries through which these manuscripts passed. Over the years, they have gathered an impressive manuscript collection of their own, and in the autumn of 2003, the Department of Special Collections of UCLA’s Charles E. Young Research Library hosted a small exhibition of some of the Rouses’ medieval manuscripts, in conjunction with Richard and Mary’s announcement of their plans to give the collection to UCLA. On display were individual leaves and complete volumes, representing a number of different countries (Austria, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland).

English manuscript detail of hand-clasp symbolizing the union of the Saxon and Norman houses, 13th c.

The Rouses’ collection of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts is a welcome addition to the Special Collections of UCLA’s Young Research Library, where it will be a valuable resource for students, teachers, and researchers in the years to come. Great libraries are formed through the collaboration of private and public resources, and the Rouses hope that their gift will encourage others to contribute to UCLA’s medieval and Renaissance manuscript holdings.

Tyrolean 15th c. detail of initial depicting the death of the Virgin.

The exhibition “Medieval Manuscripts from the Collection of Richard and Mary Rouse” can be seen online at UCLA’s Special Collections website: www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/rouse/rouseindex.htm.