Due to extensive microfilming of collections by private companies and by universities, many English collections already existed in microfilm sets by the 1970’s and 1980’s. As a result, HMML’s holdings for English manuscripts come mostly from purchased sets of complete libraries: Trinity College (Cambridge), Queen’s College (Cambridge), Hereford Cathedral, Lincoln Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and Winchester Cathedral. There are also sets of archival documents from Christ Church Cathedral (Canterbury), Lambeth Palace, and Longleat (Glastonbury Abbey records). In addition to these sets, HMML holds a vast set of Hebrew fragments from the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Collection at the Cambridge University Library.

HMML also holds hundreds of manuscripts on microfilms from other libraries around Great Britain (e.g., the Bodleian Library, British Library, etc.), but most of these are individual items. Numerous manuscripts from the British Library are from the Monastery of St. Georgenberg-Fiecht, in Austria. These allow scholars to re-create the contents of that library from before the dispersal of many of the manuscripts in the 1920’s and 1930’s. To inquire about a complete listing, contact HMML.

Ireland
The Library has purchased 82 filmed manuscripts from Irish libraries, including one set of Pontifical Briefs and Bulls, as well as records of the Inquisition, from the Trinity College (Dublin) collection. Other manuscripts from Irish libraries include the Cathach of St. Columba, the Book of Durrow, and the Book of Kells.

Scotland
The Library holds three manuscripts from Scotland. These represent individual purchases and gifts of manuscripts.