Rooted in the Renaissance, "emblems" typically consisted of a combination of motto, picture, and poem, and were used to expound an ethical or moral truth. THE MANUSCRIPT EMBLEM BOOKS OF HENRY PEACHAM is a collection of four emblem manuscripts by the noted 17th-century humanist scholar Henry Peacham.

This bibliography provides descriptions of 432 manuscripts from Europe and the United States, of which 341 contain visual imagery in various media. The manuscripts feature tripartite emblems proper, as well as festivity books, hieroglyphic texts, proto-emblematic material, allegories, triumphs, symbolic source books, schemata, devotional handbooks, and libri amicorum with emblematic imagery.