Detail from BL Eg 1068, f. 41 - Public domain medieval manuscript

Detail of miniature of the Coronation of the Virgin, at the beginning of Compline in the Hours of the Virgin. Image taken from f. 41 of Book of Hours, Use of Angers. Written in Latin and some French.

The Egerton Manuscript Collection is named after its founder, Sir Thomas Egerton (1540-1617), 1st Viscount Brackley, was a lawyer, statesman, and patron of the arts during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I of England. He served as Lord Keeper of the Great Seal and later as Lord Chancellor of England, holding high positions in the legal and political realms.

Sir Thomas Egerton acquired a substantial number of historical and literary manuscripts. In 1617, shortly before his death, Sir Thomas Egerton bequeathed his collection of manuscripts to the British Museum, which was the precursor to the British Library.