Scientific drawing from BL Eg 847, f. 56v

Drawing of a chemical process with a standing man, in the Practica geometrie. Image taken from f. 56v of Scientific miscellany, including John Metham's Summa Chiromantiae (ff. 75-96). Written in Latin.

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.