Minnesota Manuscript Research Laboratory

Center for Medieval Studies
University of Minnesota

Useful Links on Palaeography and Manuscript Studies

This list is not exhaustive but is intended to indicate useful sites for students participating in the Minnesota Manuscript Research Laboratory and other users.

Palaeography exercises and study guides on line:

The following sites include self-correcting exercises in transcription as well as varying degrees of introduction to topics in manuscript studies.

Medieval Writing, an introduction to palaeography by Dianne Tillotson, with guided exercises: http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/writing.htm

Paleografia Latina, course by Fernando de Lasala, Pontifica Università Gregoriana (short version with low-quality images on internet; full version can be purchased on CD-ROM): http://www.unigre.urbe.it/pubblicazioni/paulius/HOME.HTM

Paleographie Latine by Franz Steffens (French version, 1910), in PDF format with plates and transcriptions: http://www.archivi.beniculturali.it/Biblioteca/indexSteffens.html

Anglo-Norman Palaeography, focus on documentary hands; at University of Leicester (can also be purchased on CD-ROM): http://paleo.anglo-norman.org/medfram.html

Ductus, course in palaeography by Bernard Muir, University of Melbourne (trial version on internet, full version can be purchased on CD-ROM): http://www.medieval.unimelb.edu.au/ductus/

Palaeography: reading old handwriting, 1500 - 1800: A practical online tutorial -- early modern palaeography, at The National Archives, UK: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeography/

Abbreviationes™ – "Medieval Abbreviations Made Easy":

Abbreviationes (TM) on-line edition (no longer sold for PC or Mac), "the first electronic dictionary of medieval Latin abbreviations;" one-time purchase price for personal license 99 Euros; site licenses also available: http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/philosophy/projects/abbrev.htm

Partner institutions with MMRL:

Work at the Newberry Library and HMML is an integral part of the MMRL program; students may inquire about special research opportunities with these and other institutions.

Hill Museum and Manuscript Library (HMML, formerly Hill Monastic Manuscript Library), Collegeville, Minnesota: http://www.hmml.org
Includes searchable database of microfilm holdings as well as digitized images of selected items; microfilms can be studied at HMML or copies may be purchased.

Newberry Library, Chicago: http://www.newberry.org

University of Minnesota, Special Collections & Rare Books, digitized images of manuscripts:
http://special.lib.umn.edu/rare/msslist

Institut de recherche et d'histoire des textes (IRHT), Paris: http://www.irht.cnrs.fr/index.htm
Site includes MEDIUM, a searchable database of microfilms available for study at IRHT or purchase.

Digital Scriptorium, Columbia and Berkeley; digital manuscript cataloguing project: http://www.scriptorium.columbia.edu/

Bibliography sites:

Palaeography bibliography by Martin Irvin for Labyrinth: http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/subjects/mss/paleobib.html

Electronic Palaeography, directed by Fabio Troncarelli, based at Societas internationalis pro Vivario; an ongoing bibliography of publications on medieval palaeography, continuing the work of Leonard Boyle, O.P.: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/9891/palaeog.html

Bibliography for Medieval and Early Modern Manuscript Studies, by Stephen Reimer, University of Alberta: http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/sreimer/ms-course/bibliog/bib-int.htm

Theleme: Techniques pour l'Historien en Ligne: Études, manuels, exercises, École nationale des chartes, Paris; see specialized bibliographies, including great bibliography on manuscript catalogues:
http://theleme.enc.sorbonne.fr/sommaire62.html

And here is a list of the catalogues of dated manuscripts by country, which can be hard to find in a library without knowing exact titles:
Catalogues de manuscrits datés
, http://www.palaeographia.org/cipl/cmd.htm

Gateway sites and general sites on manuscripts:

Labyrinth, at Georgetown University: http://labyrinth.georgetown.edu/display.cfm?Action=View&Category=Manuscripts

Bob Peckham's list of Palaeography and MSS URLs: http://www.mun.ca/mst/medtext/TennBob.html

Texts, Manuscripts, and Palaeography, University of Pennsylvania: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/hot/mss.html

Manuscripta Medievalia, based in Berlin: http://www.manuscripta-mediaevalia.de/handschriften-forum.htm

Palaeographie, at University of Munich: http://www.vl-ghw.uni-muenchen.de/palaeographie.html

Medieval Manuscripts, at Stanford University: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/medieval/mss/mangen.html

Palaeographia.org -- links to Association paléographique internationale, Culture, Écriture, Société (APICES) , Gazette du livre médiéval, & Comité international
de paléographie latine
[C.I.P.L.]


Sites on Greek Palaeography:

These are listed because they are also useful for manuscript studies in general, including glossaries of terms and discussions of textual criticism and transmission:

Byzantine Palaeography, at Fordham University: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/byzantium/paleog.html

Interpreting Ancient Manuscripts, with focus on Greek Biblical texts, begun at Brown University, now at Earlham School of Religion: http://www.earlham.edu/~seidti/iam/interp_mss.html

Links on Papyrology:

Oxyrhynchus Online, including links to resources on papyrology: http://www.papyrology.ox.ac.uk/POxy/links/links.html

International Association of Papyrologists: http://www.ulb.ac.be/assoc/aip/index.html

Source for ancient Latin and Greek texts, including Biblical texts and on-line dictionaries:

Perseus Project, Tufts University: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu

Palaeographical analysis with computer tool:

Digital Medievalist: http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/article.cfm?RecID=2

Computer fonts based on detailed analysis of historical scripts, by Juan-Jose Marcos de Garcia :

Fonts for Latin Palaeography: http://guindo.pntic.mec.es/jmag0042/palefont.html

and his fonts for Ancient Languages: http://guindo.pntic.mec.es/jmag0042/alphaeng.html

And the user's manual, with analysis and history of the scripts: http://guindo.pntic.mec.es/jmag0042/LATIN_PALEOGRAPHY.pdf

 

Sampling of palaeography programs at other universities:

University of Bologna, Dipartimento di Paleografia e Medievistica: http://www.dpm.unibo.it/

University of Notre Dame, Medieval Institute: http://www.nd.edu/~medinst/index.html

University of Toronto, Center for Medieval Studies: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/medieval/index.html

Sampling of searchable manuscript catalogues online:

Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Muenchen, Codices latini monacences:
http://webserver.erwin-rauner.de/halm/catalogi_clm.asp

British Library, Manuscripts Catalogue: http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/manuscripts/INDEX.asp

Early Manuscripts at Oxford University, digital facsimiles of selected manuscripts: http://image.ox.ac.uk

Codices Electronici Sangallenses, (CESG), Virtual Library: http://www.cesg.unifr.ch/en/

Codices Electronici Ecclesiae Coloniensis; catalogues, digitized images, and historical information on MSS of Cologne: http://www.ceec.uni-koeln.de


Explore more libraries from the following gateway at Univ. Karlsruhe:

http://www.ubka.uni-karlsruhe.de/kvk.html


And last but by no means least,

PIMS's "Engines of Electronic Enterprise":

miscellaneous usefule sites for scholars in manuscript studies: http://www.pims.ca/internexus/weblinks.html

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Updated October 17, 2008 by Diane Warne Anderson
To contact Diane Warne Anderson regarding this site, send email to: ander002@umn.edu


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