The Cataloguing of 876 Medieval and Early Modern Latin Manuscripts from Heidelberg’s Bibliotheca Palatina in the Vatican Library in Rome

The cataloguing situation of the Codices Palatini Latini of the former Heidelberg Bibliotheca Palatina has so far been very heterogeneous. In this project, the existing gaps in the collection of Latin Palatina manuscripts were closed. On the basis of already existing modules a deep scientific indexing of 875 medieval and early modern Latin codices from the Bibliotheca Palatina was undertaken and presented online within the context of the virtual reconstruction of the once most renowned library in Germany. As a result for the first time manuscript descriptions based on modern and scientific standards are available for the entire collection of Latin Palatine manuscripts. 

The combination of the intended deep indexing with the online provision of digital facsimiles of the manuscripts – which up until now have been difficult to access and whose online availability has been generously financed by a further source – for the first time provide a complete and firm basis complying to academic standards for further research in the numerous disciplines of medieval studies. Furthermore, it provides the possibility for extensive research on the history and the importance of the Bibliotheca Palatina.

Besides compiling descriptions of all manuscripts according to guidelines by the German Research Foundation (DFG) in TEI-P5 format, the description data was interlinked with the digital facsimiles produced within the context of Heidelberg’s Palatina digitisation project.