This is a list of medieval bestiaries. The bestiary

Bestiary

A bestiary, or Bestiarum vocabulum is a compendium of beasts. Bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals, birds and even rocks. The natural history and illustration of each beast was usually accompanied by a moral lesson...

 form is commonly divided into "families," as proposed in 1928 by M. R. James

M. R. James

Montague Rhodes James, OM, MA, , who used the publication name M. R. James, was an English mediaeval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge and of Eton College . He is best remembered for his ghost stories, which are regarded as among the best in the genre...

 and revised by Florence McCulloch in 1959-1962.

First family

These appeared in the 10th - 13th century are based upon the "B" version of the Physiologus and the writings of Isidore of Seville

Isidore of Seville

Saint Isidore of Seville served as Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and is considered, as the historian Montalembert put it in an oft-quoted phrase, "le dernier savant du monde ancien"...

:

• Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 22
• London, British Library Royal MS 2.C.xii
• London, British Library Stowe MS 1067
• Los Angeles, Getty Museum Ludwig XV 3
• Los Angeles, Getty Museum Ludwig XV 4
• Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Bodley 602
• Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Douce 167
• Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Laud Misc. 247
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale Nouv. acq. lat. 873
• Vatican, Cod. Palat. lat. 1074

The following are all late 13th century texts, based upon the same version of the Physiologus, with the text of De bestiis et aliis rebus by Hugues de Fouilloy.

• Cambridge, Sidney Sussex College 100
• Chalon-sur-Saône, Bibliothèque Municipale MS 14
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale lat. 2495A
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale lat. 2495B
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale lat. 3638A
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale lat. 14429
• Valenciennes, Bibliothèque Municipale MS 101

These. appearing from the 12th to 14th century, incorporate material from other sources:

• Northumberland Bestiary (Alnwick Castle, MS 447)
• Cambridge, Trinity College R.14.9
• Leningrad, Rossiiskaia natsional'naia biblioteka Q.v.V,1
• London, British Library Royal MS 2.B.vii
• London, British Library Royal 12.C.xix
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek gall. 16
• New York, Morgan Library M. 81

Second family

The works in this group are based principally on Isidore's Etymologiæ with significant additional material from Saint Ambrose, Rabanus Maurus

Rabanus Maurus

Rabanus Maurus Magnentius , also known as Hrabanus or Rhabanus, was a Frankish Benedictine monk, the archbishop of Mainz in Germany and a theologian. He was the author of the encyclopaedia De rerum naturis . He also wrote treatises on education and grammar and commentaries on the Bible...

, Solinus and others:

• Aberdeen Bestiary
  Aberdeen Bestiary
  The Aberdeen Bestiary is a 12th century English illuminated manuscript bestiary that was first listed in 1542 in the inventory of the Old Royal Library at the Palace of Westminster....
  
   (Aberdeen University Library MS 24)
• Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale 8340
• Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale Hs 8827-42
• Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 53
• Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum MS 379 (C, W(B))
• Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College MS 109/178
• Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College MS 372/621
• Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College MS 384/604
• Cambridge, University Library Ii.4.26
• Canterbury, Cathedral Library Lit.D.10
• Chartres, Bibliothèque Municipale 63 (125)
• Copenhagen, Kongelige Bibliotek Gl. Kgl. 1633 4°
• Douai, Bibliothèque Municipale MS 711
• Le Mans, Bibliothèque Municipale 84
• London, British Library Additional MS 11283
• London, British Library Harley MS 3244
• London, British Library Harley MS 4751
• Rochestery Bestiary (London, British Library Royal MS 12.F.xiii)
• London, British Library Sloane MS 3544
• Los Angeles, Getty Museum, Salvatorberg Bestiary
• Nîmes, Bibliothèque Municipale 82
• New York, Morgan Library MS M. 890
• Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Ashmole 1511
  Ashmole Bestiary
  The Ashmole Bestiary is a late 12th or early 13th century English illuminated manuscript Bestiary containing a creation story and detailed allegorical descriptions of over 100 animals...
  
  
• Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Bodley 533
• Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Bodley 764
• Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Douce 88 A
• Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Douce 151
• Oxford, St. Johns College MS. 61
• Oxford, St. Johns College MS. 178
• Oxford, University College MS. 120
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale lat. 3630
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale lat. 11207
• Paris, Mazarine Library 742 (1115)
• Vatican, Apostolic Library Reg. 258

Third family

These, from the 13th century, expand on the above with various races of humans, mythological creatures, and sometimes wonders of the world from Bernard Silvestris

Bernard Silvestris

Bernard Silvestris, also known as Bernardus Silvestris, was a Medieval Platonist philosopher and poet of the 12th century.-Biography:Little is known about his life. André Vernet, who edited Bernard's Cosmographia, believed that he lived from 1085 to 1178; the only certain date in his life is 1147,...

 and others:

• Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum 254
• Cambridge, University Library MS Kk.4.25
• Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. e Musaeo 136
• Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Douce 88 E
• Westminster Abbey Library MS 22

Fourth family

The sole work in this family, from the 15th century, is distinguished by its incorporation of writings by Bartholomaeus Anglicus:

• Cambridge, University Library MS. Gg.6.5

Dicta Chrysostomi

These works were attributed in their time to John Chrysostom

John Chrysostom

John Chrysostom , Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic...

 and appeared, mostly in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, from the 12th to 15th century:

• Bad Windsheim, Ratsbibl. Cod. 28
• Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale 18421-29
• Chicago, Newberry Library MS 31.1
• Epinal, Bibliothèque Municipale 58 (209)
• Göttweg, Stiftsbibl. Cod. Ms. 154
• Göttweg, Stiftsbibl. Cod. ms. 200
• Harvard University, Houghton Library MS Typ 101
• Leningrad, Gos. Publ. Biblioteka Saltykova-Shchedrina lat. Q.v.III,1
• Leipzig, Universitätsbibl. Paul. fol. 351
• Leipzig, Universitätsbibl. Paul. 4° 1305
• Linz, Studienbibl. Cod. ms. Cc.II.15
• London, British Library Sloane MS 278
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek clm 536
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek clm 2655
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek clm 3221
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek clm 5613
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek clm 5921
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek clm 6908
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek clm 9600
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek clm 14216
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek clm 14348
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek clm 14693
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek clm 16189
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek clm 19648
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek clm 23787
• New York, Morgan Library MS M. 832
• Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal lat. 394
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale lat. 10448
• Uppsala, Universitetsbibliotek C 145
• Vienna, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek 303
• Vienna, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek 1010
• Vienna, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek 2511
• Vienna, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek 4609
• Vienna, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek 13378
• Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek 35a Helmst. (Manuscript digitized)

Single Author manuscripts

Many Manuscripts contain oportions of bestiaries that can be atrtibuted to a single author. These include works by Isidore of Seville's

Isidore of Seville

Saint Isidore of Seville served as Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and is considered, as the historian Montalembert put it in an oft-quoted phrase, "le dernier savant du monde ancien"...

 Etymologiae, Thomas de Cantimpré's Liber de Natura Rerum, and Hugues de Fouilloy's De avibus

Hugues de Fouilloy

• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 9649 (Hugues de Fouilloy, De avibus in a miscellany)

Isidore of Seville

• Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg Rare Book & Manuscript Library, ljs184 (Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae)

Thomas de Cantimpré

• Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg Rare Book & Manuscript Library, ljs023 (Thomas de Cantimpré, Liber de Natura Rerum)
• Brugge, Openbare Bibliotheek, Ms. 410 (XIII)
• Brugge, Openbare Bibliotheek, Ms. 411 (XV)
• Brugge, Openbare Bibliotheek, Ms. 412 (XIV)
• Brugge, Openbare Bibliotheek, Ms. 413 (XIV)

French bestiaries

The French bestiaries are all derived from works with commonly attributed authorship, and are divided as such:

Bestiaire in Verse by Philippe de Thaon

• Copenhagen, Kongelige Bibliotek Gl. kgl. S. 3466 8º
• London, British Library Cotton Nero A.v
• Oxford, Merton College MS. 249

Bestiaire of Guillaume le Clerc

• Cambridge, Fitzwilliam McLean 123
• Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Mus. J.20
• Cambridge, Trinity College O.2.14
• London, British Library Cotton Vespasian A.vii
• London, British Library Egerton MS 613
• London, British Library Royal 16.E.viii
• Lyon, Palais des Arts 78
• Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Bodley 912
• Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Douce 132
• Paris, Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal 2691
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale fr. 902
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale fr. 1444
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale fr. 2168
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale fr. 14964
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale fr. 14969
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale fr. 14970
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale fr. 20046
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale fr. 24428
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale fr. 25406
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale fr. 25408
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale Rothschild IV.2.24
• New Haven, Beinecke Library MS 395 (formerly Phillipps 4156)
• Vatican, Apostolic Library Regina 1682
• In a Psalter, the Queen Mary Psalter, British Library Ms. Royal 2B, vii
• In a psalter, the Isabelle Psalter, State Library, Munich

Bestiaire of Pierre de Beauvais

• Malines, Bibliothèque du Séminaire 32
• Montpellier, Bibliothèque de la Faculté de Médecine H.437
• Paris, Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal fr. 3516
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale fr. 834
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale fr. 944
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale nouv. acq. 13251
• ex-Phillipps 6739 [C, M]
• Vatican, Apostolic Library Reg. 1323

Italian bestiaries

• Florence, Bibl. Laurenziana Cod. plut. LXXXX Inf. Cod. 47 (Bibl. Gadd.)
• Florence, Bibl. Laurenziana Cod. Ashb. 649
• Florence, Bibl. Naz. Cod. Magliabecchiano II.8.33
• Florence, Bibl. Naz. cl. XII Cod. Strozz. Magliabecchiano 135
• Florence, Biblioteca Ricardiana Cod. 1357 P.III.4
• Florence, Biblioteca Ricardiana Cod. 2183 R.IV 4 Nr. 2260
• Florence, Biblioteca Ricardiana Cod. 2281
• Naples, Bibl. Naz. XII.E.11
• Padova, Museo Civico di Padova (Bibl. Comun.) Cod. C.R.M.248
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale ital. 450
• Rome, Bibl. Corsini 44.G.27

Catalan bestiaries

• Barcelona, Bibl. Universitària 75
• Barcelona, Bibl. de Catalunya 87
• Barcelona, Bibl. de Catalunya 310
• Vic, Bibl. Capitular 229
• Vic, Bibl. Capitular 1354

German bestiary

• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cgm 38 (Konrad von Megenberg, Das Buch der Natur)
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cgm 8414 (Konrad von Megenberg, Das Buch der Natur)