2017-01-23

Throwback to Microfilm

In an extraordinary change of policy, the Vatican Library appears to have given up its emphasis on digitally color-scanning its manuscripts for online release. Instead it is following the cheap and cheerful option of posting images of its old black-and-white microfilm online. This explains how, just after noon on January 23, 2017, it was able in one fell swoop to post images of nearly 4,000 new manuscripts.

The manuscripts portal, now boasts links to an impressive 10,338 manuscripts, probably making it from this date the biggest single online library in the the world of medieval and early modern hand-penned books.

However the retrograde step to low quality is disappointing. Microfilming of the Vatican manuscripts began in the 1950s and the quality of these grainy black and white images is far below what scholars expect nowadays. In many cases words are entirely illegible or lost in dark folds and gutters. The illuminations are often just murky patches of grey.

Color scanning was an enormous advance. The books are laid in cradles under shadowless light and photographed from two angles, with the images then post-processed. The Library is being frank about this downgrade and is marking the microfilms as "low quality", but offers no explanation of why it is changing course. [Later note: there has since been an assurance that these manuscripts will be color-scanned, and that the black-and-white versions are merely stopgaps.]


I may not be able to offer you a complete list of this massive release as the work required to collate it would simply be beyond my time and resources. But here is a small sample: the Reginense latino series, has suddenly grown from 93 items to 492. All of the 399 additions are marked  "low quality" though many really did deserve better treatment:
  1. Reg.lat.19
  2. Reg.lat.21
  3. Reg.lat.27
  4. Reg.lat.29
  5. Reg.lat.37
  6. Reg.lat.49
  7. Reg.lat.52
  8. Reg.lat.66
  9. Reg.lat.67
  10. Reg.lat.69, Carolingian? with Alcuin, John the Deacon and others.
  11. Reg.lat.75
  12. Reg.lat.91
  13. Reg.lat.93
  14. Reg.lat.96
  15. Reg.lat.99
  16. Reg.lat.106
  17. Reg.lat.107,
  18. Reg.lat.116
  19. Reg.lat.117
  20. Reg.lat.122
  21. Reg.lat.124, Rabanus Maurus: De laudibus sanctae crucis: A principal copy made in 825 or 826: read this introduction to the Liber de_laudibus_Sanctae_Crucis. On the author: Wikipedia. The reproduction of this beautiful book is in fact a color scan
  22. Reg.lat.125
  23. Reg.lat.126
  24. Reg.lat.129
  25. Reg.lat.132
  26. Reg.lat.133
  27. Reg.lat.134
  28. Reg.lat.140
  29. Reg.lat.141
  30. Reg.lat.147
  31. Reg.lat.150
  32. Reg.lat.160
  33. Reg.lat.162
  34. Reg.lat.167
  35. Reg.lat.185
  36. Reg.lat.187
  37. Reg.lat.191
  38. Reg.lat.193
  39. Reg.lat.194
  40. Reg.lat.195
  41. Reg.lat.201
  42. Reg.lat.215
  43. Reg.lat.219
  44. Reg.lat.222
  45. Reg.lat.224
  46. Reg.lat.230
  47. Reg.lat.234
  48. Reg.lat.251
  49. Reg.lat.255
  50. Reg.lat.258
  51. Reg.lat.263
  52. Reg.lat.272
  53. Reg.lat.274
  54. Reg.lat.280
  55. Reg.lat.288
  56. Reg.lat.294
  57. Reg.lat.296
  58. Reg.lat.300
  59. Reg.lat.304
  60. Reg.lat.306
  61. Reg.lat.309, a copy of a famed Carolingian compendium of astronomy, the Handbook of 809. Horrible imaging:
  62. Reg.lat.310
  63. Reg.lat.318
  64. Reg.lat.324
  65. Reg.lat.333
  66. Reg.lat.338
  67. Reg.lat.342
  68. Reg.lat.343
  69. Reg.lat.344
  70. Reg.lat.348
  71. Reg.lat.358
  72. Reg.lat.373
  73. Reg.lat.377
  74. Reg.lat.378
  75. Reg.lat.379
  76. Reg.lat.385.pt.1
  77. Reg.lat.385.pt.2
  78. Reg.lat.388
  79. Reg.lat.399
  80. Reg.lat.407
  81. Reg.lat.424
  82. Reg.lat.426
  83. Reg.lat.430
  84. Reg.lat.432
  85. Reg.lat.453
  86. Reg.lat.455
  87. Reg.lat.457
  88. Reg.lat.463
  89. Reg.lat.467
  90. Reg.lat.469
  91. Reg.lat.470
  92. Reg.lat.471
  93. Reg.lat.477
  94. Reg.lat.479
  95. Reg.lat.480
  96. Reg.lat.481
  97. Reg.lat.482
  98. Reg.lat.484
  99. Reg.lat.486
  100. Reg.lat.489
  101. Reg.lat.497, contains a single folio of the Old English history of the Viking Ohthere of HĂ„logaland (Wikipedia)
  102. Reg.lat.498
  103. Reg.lat.499
  104. Reg.lat.500
  105. Reg.lat.509
  106. Reg.lat.516
  107. Reg.lat.517
  108. Reg.lat.520
  109. Reg.lat.521
  110. Reg.lat.522
  111. Reg.lat.523
  112. Reg.lat.524
  113. Reg.lat.529
  114. Reg.lat.532
  115. Reg.lat.535
  116. Reg.lat.539
  117. Reg.lat.540
  118. Reg.lat.541
  119. Reg.lat.543
  120. Reg.lat.544
  121. Reg.lat.548
  122. Reg.lat.553.pt.1
  123. Reg.lat.553.pt.2
  124. Reg.lat.556.pt.1
  125. Reg.lat.556.pt.2
  126. Reg.lat.558
  127. Reg.lat.561
  128. Reg.lat.562
  129. Reg.lat.566, the only existing manuscript of the Epitoma of Helgaud
  130. Reg.lat.568
  131. Reg.lat.571
  132. Reg.lat.572
  133. Reg.lat.576
  134. Reg.lat.577
  135. Reg.lat.578
  136. Reg.lat.579
  137. Reg.lat.580
  138. Reg.lat.582
  139. Reg.lat.585
  140. Reg.lat.592
  141. Reg.lat.593
  142. Reg.lat.596
  143. Reg.lat.598
  144. Reg.lat.605
  145. Reg.lat.606
  146. Reg.lat.610
  147. Reg.lat.612
  148. Reg.lat.616
  149. Reg.lat.620
  150. Reg.lat.621
  151. Reg.lat.624
  152. Reg.lat.630
  153. Reg.lat.631
  154. Reg.lat.633.pt.1
  155. Reg.lat.633.pt.2
  156. Reg.lat.641
  157. Reg.lat.644
  158. Reg.lat.648
  159. Reg.lat.657
  160. Reg.lat.658
  161. Reg.lat.666
  162. Reg.lat.667
  163. Reg.lat.668
  164. Reg.lat.669
  165. Reg.lat.672
  166. Reg.lat.673
  167. Reg.lat.681
  168. Reg.lat.692
  169. Reg.lat.694
  170. Reg.lat.703.pt.1
  171. Reg.lat.703.pt.2
  172. Reg.lat.712
  173. Reg.lat.722
  174. Reg.lat.727
  175. Reg.lat.729
  176. Reg.lat.736
  177. Reg.lat.738
  178. Reg.lat.744.pt.1
  179. Reg.lat.744.pt.2
  180. Reg.lat.745
  181. Reg.lat.750
  182. Reg.lat.755
  183. Reg.lat.760
  184. Reg.lat.763
  185. Reg.lat.767
  186. Reg.lat.768
  187. Reg.lat.774
  188. Reg.lat.776
  189. Reg.lat.777
  190. Reg.lat.781
  191. Reg.lat.787
  192. Reg.lat.791
  193. Reg.lat.807
  194. Reg.lat.827
  195. Reg.lat.830
  196. Reg.lat.832
  197. Reg.lat.833
  198. Reg.lat.834
  199. Reg.lat.835
  200. Reg.lat.838
  201. Reg.lat.846
  202. Reg.lat.849
  203. Reg.lat.852
  204. Reg.lat.857
  205. Reg.lat.859
  206. Reg.lat.863
  207. Reg.lat.868
  208. Reg.lat.902
  209. Reg.lat.920
  210. Reg.lat.921
  211. Reg.lat.923
  212. Reg.lat.931
  213. Reg.lat.936
  214. Reg.lat.937
  215. Reg.lat.944
  216. Reg.lat.951
  217. Reg.lat.971
  218. Reg.lat.973
  219. Reg.lat.977
  220. Reg.lat.982
  221. Reg.lat.992
  222. Reg.lat.1003
  223. Reg.lat.1010
  224. Reg.lat.1023, this is one of the most important Roman law texts with various arbor juris schemata. Most are semi-illegible:
  225. Reg.lat.1048
  226. Reg.lat.1050
  227. Reg.lat.1054
  228. Reg.lat.1061
  229. Reg.lat.1099
  230. Reg.lat.1104
  231. Reg.lat.1115
  232. Reg.lat.1123
  233. Reg.lat.1127
  234. Reg.lat.1128
  235. Reg.lat.1131
  236. Reg.lat.1140
  237. Reg.lat.1145
  238. Reg.lat.1148
  239. Reg.lat.1171
  240. Reg.lat.1177
  241. Reg.lat.1205
  242. Reg.lat.1209
  243. Reg.lat.1220
  244. Reg.lat.1238
  245. Reg.lat.1241
  246. Reg.lat.1245
  247. Reg.lat.1253
  248. Reg.lat.1260
  249. Reg.lat.1263
  250. Reg.lat.1268
  251. Reg.lat.1272
  252. Reg.lat.1276
  253. Reg.lat.1281
  254. Reg.lat.1282
  255. Reg.lat.1290
  256. Reg.lat.1294
  257. Reg.lat.1297.pt.1
  258. Reg.lat.1297.pt.2
  259. Reg.lat.1315
  260. Reg.lat.1352
  261. Reg.lat.1354
  262. Reg.lat.1357
  263. Reg.lat.1364
  264. Reg.lat.1370, the earliest grammar (1437 – 1441) of a Romance language (Tuscan). See HistoryofInformation.com and Cecil Grayson.
  265. Reg.lat.1385
  266. Reg.lat.1388
  267. Reg.lat.1389
  268. Reg.lat.1391
  269. Reg.lat.1418
  270. Reg.lat.1421
  271. Reg.lat.1429
  272. Reg.lat.1431
  273. Reg.lat.1442
  274. Reg.lat.1446
  275. Reg.lat.1456
  276. Reg.lat.1461
  277. Reg.lat.1479
  278. Reg.lat.1481
  279. Reg.lat.1486
  280. Reg.lat.1490, Chansonnier cangé: see an account of the trobairitz female troubadours.
  281. Reg.lat.1495
  282. Reg.lat.1496
  283. Reg.lat.1501
  284. Reg.lat.1505
  285. Reg.lat.1511
  286. Reg.lat.1513
  287. Reg.lat.1516
  288. Reg.lat.1517
  289. Reg.lat.1519
  290. Reg.lat.1531
  291. Reg.lat.1541
  292. Reg.lat.1549
  293. Reg.lat.1553, an early 9th-century copy of the Bern Riddles
  294. Reg.lat.1555
  295. Reg.lat.1556
  296. Reg.lat.1557
  297. Reg.lat.1560
  298. Reg.lat.1569
  299. Reg.lat.1570
  300. Reg.lat.1572, this is a most remarkable manuscript, uniquely containing a previously lost Latin philosophical text dating from antiquity, the missing part 3 of De Platone by the 2nd-century writer Apuleius. Justin Stover points out this discovery was made in 1949 by the historian of philosophy Raymond Klibansky, who neither disclosed the location nor published any edition by the time of his death in 2005. [Justin Stover kindly points out (comment below) that Klibansky did reveal the shelfmark in 1993, in his catalogue of the manuscripts of Apuleius' philosophical works, with Frank Regen, Die Handschriften der philosophischen Werke des Apuleius.] Here is the book's start at fol. 77r (frame 78): 
    Stover's edition, A New Work by Apuleius: The Lost Third Book of the De Platone, has since appeared with OUP. (HT to Pieter Buellens (@LatinAristotle).)
  301. Reg.lat.1573
  302. Reg.lat.1575
  303. Reg.lat.1583
  304. Reg.lat.1584
  305. Reg.lat.1591
  306. Reg.lat.1592
  307. Reg.lat.1593
  308. Reg.lat.1595
  309. Reg.lat.1598
  310. Reg.lat.1602
  311. Reg.lat.1603
  312. Reg.lat.1616
  313. Reg.lat.1624
  314. Reg.lat.1630
  315. Reg.lat.1637.pt.1
  316. Reg.lat.1637.pt.2
  317. Reg.lat.1638
  318. Reg.lat.1642
  319. Reg.lat.1650
  320. Reg.lat.1652
  321. Reg.lat.1659
  322. Reg.lat.1666
  323. Reg.lat.1669
  324. Reg.lat.1670
  325. Reg.lat.1671
  326. Reg.lat.1672
  327. Reg.lat.1673
  328. Reg.lat.1676
  329. Reg.lat.1682
  330. Reg.lat.1684
  331. Reg.lat.1686
  332. Reg.lat.1691
  333. Reg.lat.1708
  334. Reg.lat.1716
  335. Reg.lat.1719
  336. Reg.lat.1721
  337. Reg.lat.1722
  338. Reg.lat.1723
  339. Reg.lat.1725
  340. Reg.lat.1731
  341. Reg.lat.1738
  342. Reg.lat.1758
  343. Reg.lat.1762
  344. Reg.lat.1773
  345. Reg.lat.1801
  346. Reg.lat.1803
  347. Reg.lat.1805
  348. Reg.lat.1806
  349. Reg.lat.1809
  350. Reg.lat.1818
  351. Reg.lat.1824
  352. Reg.lat.1825
  353. Reg.lat.1830
  354. Reg.lat.1832
  355. Reg.lat.1834
  356. Reg.lat.1837
  357. Reg.lat.1840
  358. Reg.lat.1841
  359. Reg.lat.1845
  360. Reg.lat.1848
  361. Reg.lat.1849
  362. Reg.lat.1852
  363. Reg.lat.1853
  364. Reg.lat.1863
  365. Reg.lat.1867
  366. Reg.lat.1870
  367. Reg.lat.1875
  368. Reg.lat.1884
  369. Reg.lat.1894
  370. Reg.lat.1909
  371. Reg.lat.1910
  372. Reg.lat.1911
  373. Reg.lat.1914
  374. Reg.lat.1958
  375. Reg.lat.1964
  376. Reg.lat.1970
  377. Reg.lat.1971
  378. Reg.lat.1973
  379. Reg.lat.1987
  380. Reg.lat.2000
  381. Reg.lat.2001
  382. Reg.lat.2018
  383. Reg.lat.2021, with Girolamo Mei, Letter to Vincenzo Galilei
  384. Reg.lat.2023
  385. Reg.lat.2043
  386. Reg.lat.2049
  387. Reg.lat.2052
  388. Reg.lat.2061
  389. Reg.lat.2062
  390. Reg.lat.2071
  391. Reg.lat.2077, Palimpsest, Lowe CLA 1 114 and 115
  392. Reg.lat.2079
  393. Reg.lat.2082
  394. Reg.lat.2090
  395. Reg.lat.2099
  396. Reg.lat.2102
  397. Reg.lat.2103
  398. Reg.lat.2120
  399. Reg.lat.???: item missed in my haste
This is Piggin's Unofficial List number 89. If you have corrections or additions, please use the comments box below. Follow me on Twitter (@JBPiggin) for news of more additions to DigiVatLib.

2 comments :

  1. I would like to offer a small correction to no. 300. Raymond Klibansky did reveal the shelfmark in 1993, in his catalogue of the manuscripts of Apuleius' philosophical works, with Frank Regen, Die Handschriften der philosophischen Werke des Apuleius.
    Thank you, however, for mentioning this fascinating text...
    Justin Stover

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for correcting this, and my apologies that the comment was not cleared immediately to be published

      Delete