Manuscripts about a female monarch! (5)
I believe the answer is:
midas
'monarch' is the definition.
(mythical king)
'manuscripts about a female' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'about' could be 'a' (abbreviation in Chambers) and 'a' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'mids' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for midas that I've seen before include "Legendary king who could turn everything to gold" , "old king" , "Mythical king who had the power to turn everything to gold" , "Legendary king with golden touch" , "One with a golden touch" .)