Expanded Reference Guide

4.10. Manuscripts

A reference to a manuscript should include the following information:

Details of the repository/library/archives/collections where the manuscript is. This should include:

1. The location of the repository (followed by a comma)
2. The name of the repository (followed by a comma)
3. The name or reference number of the manuscript (in full, typically preceded by MS, followed by a comma)
4. Folio or page numbers (preceded by 'fol.'/'fols' or 'p.'/'pp.', followed by a full stop)

Examples: 

1. Cambridge, Trinity College, MS 0.9.38, fol. 72v. 
2. New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.126, fol. 4r.
3. London, National Archives, MS SC 8/199/9925.

Note:

• For many manuscripts, we cite folio rather than page numbers – as in examples one and two above. While a single leaf in a modern printed book has two page numbers (one for the front and one for the reverse of the leaf), a leaf (or folio) in a manuscript has a single folio number. The front and back are distinguished by the letters r and v: r for recto (the front), and v for verso (the reverse). Folio numbers are given in the form: 17v or 16r. Note that the 'v' and 'r' abbreviations do not take a full stop (though, as in the examples above, they typically occur at the end of a citation and are – for that reason – followed by a full stop). 
• Not all MSS will have a folio number: some will be paginated, while others might just be a single sheet as in example three.