A student-led initiative from the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, University of Kent
DIGITISED
MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS
Edited by Anna-Nadine Pike and Segolene Gence
Digitised Library Collections and Holdings
This page brings together a range of digital library holdings from across the globe, with many manuscript facsimiles now available online. This page is best used alongside our curated collection of resources for manuscript studies, including palaeography and codicology, which can all be found here. When reading and transcribing European manuscripts, it may also be valuable to browse our resources for learning the languages of medieval and early-modern Europe, which can be found on these pages. Arabic manuscripts could also be studied alongside our resources relating to the Islamic world, which contains many further suggestions for Islamic manuscript collections online.
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Asia
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Qatar Digital Library: This is an online archive showcasing the cultural and historical heritage of the Gulf and wider region.
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Europe
Cambridge (UK), Cambridge University Libraries
Digitised resources from Cambridge University Libraries.
Cambridge (UK), Corpus Christi College
A collection of manuscripts from the Parker Library, almost all of which have full digital facsimiles, together with their bibliographic records. The site also details the Library’s recent exhibitions, with digital images of exhibits and their object descriptions.
Dublin, Trinity College Dublin
Digitised collections from the library of Trinity College, Dublin, including a fully digitised version of The Book of Kells, accessible from the homepage.
Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts - The searchable descriptions and images of the Medieval and Early Modern manuscripts held within the British Library. The catalogue is searchable by shelf-mark, but note that the catalogue only contains select items from the Additional collection, and does not include the Cotton collection.
Digitised images from collections within the Bodleian Library, Oxford, including its medieval manuscripts and early printed books. These collections are fully searchable, but can also be browsed by thematic collection.
Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Gallica, the digital library of the BnF, which collates books, images, maps, manuscripts and sound recordings. Manuscripts are subdivided into several categories including ‘Merovingian manuscripts’, ‘Carolingian manuscripts’, ‘The manuscripts of Chrétien de Troyes’ and ‘The manuscripts of Christine de Pizan’, but are also fully searchable.
Digital Vatican is an ongoing project which aims to digitise each of the 80,000 codices held within the Vatican Library
Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland
Facsimiles and descriptions of the medieval manuscripts held within Swiss libraries. The site is organised primarily by library, but is meticulously subdivided, facilitating searches by material, binding, language, century, etc.
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United States of America
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Cambridge (MA), Harvard Library
Catalogue and searchable digitised Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts from the Houghton library, Harvard.
Digital Scriptorium brings together American librarian and museum collections to provide online access to their collections of medieval - early modern manuscripts. Records include a description of the manuscript together with sample, downloadable images of selected folios. The Digital Scriptorium is fully searchable, and can be browsed by location or language.
‘Penn in Hand’ Digital records and digitised facsimiles of items within the University of Pennsylvania’s Rare Books and Manuscript Library, with advanced search options
‘OPenn: Curated collections’ Hosted by the University of Pennsylvania Libraries, OPenn offers high-resolution archival imagery from the collections of its contributing institutions, including its Collection of Indic Manuscripts and Manuscripts of the Muslim World.
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
CORSAIR, the digital library of the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, with a detailed, searchable catalogue.
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Further Resources
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The Endangered Archives Programme is a project from the British Library working towards "the digitisation of archives around the world that are in danger of destruction, neglect or physical deterioration". New projects are added monthly, the most recent of which include Libros de Hijuelas ('deed books') and documents recording the privatisation of indigenous lands in Mexico from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries.
Medieval Manuscripts on the Web
A resource from the University of British Columbia, containing a list, alphabetised by country, of previous or current manuscript digitisation projects globally, with a short description for each. The list also includes links to several online palaeographical resources, including DigiPal and InScribe.
The Eran Laor Cartographical Collection, from the National Library of Israel
A partially digitised collection of maps, atlases and travel books which focus primarily upon Jerusalem and the Holy Land, from the 9th to the 20th century. “The maps in the collection are in various European languages, as well as in Hebrew, Yiddish and Arabic.” The digital collection can be browsed by religion, central location, place publishing and scale.
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Resource page updated by Anna-Nadine Pike - last updated 25/01/22
