Illuminated manuscripts from 1300 to 1400

With the cataloguing of illuminated manuscripts in Graz University Library, the largest collection of medieval manuscripts in Austria - after the Austrian National Library - is being opened up. The highly regarded catalogues of illuminated manuscripts and incunabula in the Austrian National Library serve as a model: the manuscripts are introduced with descriptions of the book blocks, bindings and contents, after which a short section provides information on the origins of the books. The main part of each catalogue entry is devoted to the description of the books` decoration, the latter`s integration into the text and stylistic qualities. This makes it possible to locate in terms of time and space the books` decoration, and so normally the whole book, thus allowing the books to be placed in their historical and cultural-historical contexts. An extensive illustrations section, which also presents comparative examples from other libraries, helps to make optically accessible these rich holdings of visual media. With the catalogues of illuminated manuscripts, fundamental research is being carried out which makes the inaccessible medieval manuscripts available to scholars from all historical disciplines for further investigation and, at the same time, provides essential, scientifically-founded data. The project is being carried out parallel to the cataloguing of the manuscripts in the Austrian National Library and in the Upper Austrian State Library in Linz, since this makes possible a scholarly exchange and the use of common resources. The catalogue worked on in predecessor projects on illuminated manuscripts after 1400 has been presented in manuscript form to Professor Gerhard Schmidt, a member of the Academy. There remains, however, editorial work and specialist suggestions must also be incorporated. Part of the time in the proposed project will be set aside for these activities. The cataloguing of illuminated manuscripts from the fourteenth century was begun within the ongoing project. It was possible to finish 32 catalogue entries and to collect the codicological data for further manuscripts. Since the review of the holdings in the predecessor projects was successful and research conditions are slightly better than for the second half of the fifteenth century in particular, it should be possible to complete the remaining c. 100 catalogue entries within the proposed timescale.

With the cataloguing of illuminated manuscripts in Graz University Library, the largest collection of medieval manuscripts in Austria - after the Austrian National Library - is being opened up. The highly regarded catalogues of illuminated manuscripts and incunabula in the Austrian National Library serve as a model: the manuscripts are introduced with descriptions of the book blocks, bindings and contents, after which a short section provides information on the origins of the books. The main part of each catalogue entry is devoted to the description of the books` decoration, the latter`s integration into the text and stylistic qualities. This makes it possible to locate in terms of time and space the books` decoration, and so normally the whole book, thus allowing the books to be placed in their historical and cultural-historical contexts. An extensive illustrations section, which also presents comparative examples from other libraries, helps to make optically accessible these rich holdings of visual media. With the catalogues of illuminated manuscripts, fundamental research is being carried out which makes the inaccessible medieval manuscripts available to scholars from all historical disciplines for further investigation and, at the same time, provides essential, scientifically-founded data. The project is being carried out parallel to the cataloguing of the manuscripts in the Austrian National Library and in the Upper Austrian State Library in Linz, since this makes possible a scholarly exchange and the use of common resources. The catalogue worked on in predecessor projects on illuminated manuscripts after 1400 has been presented in manuscript form to Professor Gerhard Schmidt, a member of the Academy. There remains, however, editorial work and specialist suggestions must also be incorporated. Part of the time in the proposed project will be set aside for these activities. The cataloguing of illuminated manuscripts from the fourteenth century was begun within the ongoing project. It was possible to finish 32 catalogue entries and to collect the codicological data for further manuscripts. Since the review of the holdings in the predecessor projects was successful and research conditions are slightly better than for the second half of the fifteenth century in particular, it should be possible to complete the remaining c. 100 catalogue entries within the proposed timescale.