eCodicesNL

Duration: September 2020 - June 2023
Subsidy provider: Fonds KNAW Instituten
Subsidy size: 247,000 euro
Remarkable: The Netherlands have over 90 public institutions in which medieval manuscripts are kept. This project prepares the setting up of a national manuscript portal, modelled after the Swiss eCodices.
Valorisation: The prototype of eCodicesNL, a virtual reading room displaying 180 medieval manuscripts from three public collections, brings together digital photographs, metadata and a search interface. Visitors to the virtual reading room can filter and sort the manuscripts by different facets, browse and view them in detail.

eCodicesNL is an online portal for medieval manuscripts in the Netherlands. With the help of a grant from the Dutch Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) we shall create a new website to access and study medieval manuscripts in Dutch collections. The aim is to open up a full set of digital images and high quality descriptions of medieval manuscripts in Dutch collections, both for a large audience and for researchers. The project team consists of Renée Schilling (coordinator), Irene van Renswoude and Mariken Teeuwen. The projects starts 1 September 2020.

Detail of the De civitate dei in French translation, Paris, c. 1425. eCodicesNL: It is in The Hague, House of the Book, with the number MMW 10 A 12, f. 2r.

The Hague, House of the Book, MMW 10 A 12, f. 2r (detail): De civitate dei in French translation, Paris, c. 1425. eCodicesNL: https://db.ecodices.nl/detail/6545/overview

The Netherlands have over 90 public institutions in which medieval manuscripts are kept. This cultural property is unique and diverse; a rich variety of historical objects, valuable for Dutch and European history, identity, religion, history of knowledge and science. Parts of these collections can already be found online, but incomplete and without unified access. This project prepares the setting up of a national manuscript portal, modelled after the Swiss eCodices, A Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland, which is a pathbreaking example for the curation and publication of this kind of cultural heritage. Furthermore, we shall transform and extend a database created several years ago, in which information about manuscripts has been assembled: Medieval Manuscripts in Dutch Collections. With the help of a grant from the Mondriaan Fund, acquired by Leiden University Library, we will convert the metadata of this database to a new structure, in accordance with international standards and FAIR data principles.

Detail of a Book of Hours, maybe from Utrecht, early 15th century. to be found in Deventer, Athenaeum Library, with the number 101 E 24 KL, f. 99r.

Deventer, Athenaeum Library, 101 E 24 KL, f. 99r (detail): Book of Hours, Utrecht?, early 15th century. eCodicesNL: https://db.ecodices.nl/detail/7560/overview

For the blueprint of the portal, we rely on three institutions as initial partners: House of the book in The Hague, Tresoar in Leeuwarden and the Athenaeum Library in Deventer. Their collections will deliver the first content of the virtual environment, in which the manuscripts will be published with structured descriptions and a good search interface. In the new portal, it will be possible to see manuscripts from different collections side-by-side and also next to manuscripts from digitized collections abroad. We will develop a standard for a systematic and high quality description of the manuscripts, to ensure that the linked collections can be employed to address new research questions. In the future, all Dutch collections with medieval manuscripts can use the same model, structure and standards.

Detail of the Landrecht van Ommeland, 1528. To be found in Leeuwarden, Tresoar, with the number PBF R 7, p. 91.

Leeuwarden, Tresoar, PBF R 7, p. 91 (detail): Landrecht van Ommeland, 1528. eCodicesNL: https://db.ecodices.nl/detail/011/overview