Ancient Texts from the Vatican and Bodleian Libraries go online
Vatican City, 4 December 2013: The Vatican Apostolic Library (BAV) and the Bodleian
Libraries of the University of Oxford have joined forces to digitalize and make available
online some of the most important and unique Bibles in the world, as well as biblical
texts from their collections. From 3 December, the digitalized texts can be accessed
at http://bav.bodleian.ox.ac.uk.
The initiative is the first step of an important
four-year collaborative project for the publication of digital content on the internet.
A committee of academics and experts from around the world has selected for digitalization
a part of the collection of manuscripts in Hebrew and Greek, as well as incunabula
from the Bodleian and Vatican Apostolic Libraries. The selection process has taken
into account both the requirements of scholars and practical needs. Restorers from
both libraries have collaborated with conservators to ascertain not only the value
of the contents, but also the conditions of preservation of the works.
Although
for some years now the two institutions have digitally reproduced part of their collections,
this project provides them both with the opportunity to increase the scale and numerical
capacity of the volumes digitalized, while taking care not to expose the works, very
delicate on account of their age and conservational condition, to risk of damage.
The
website, just opened, provides high-resolution scale images permitting detailed study
and scientific analysis. The site includes also hosts videos and essays by scholars
and supporters of the digitalization project, including Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues,
archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church and Archbishop of Canterbury and
primate of the Anglican Church, Justin Welby. A blog with articles on conservation,
digitalization techniques and methods used during the project completes the site,
which may be viewed in both English and Italian. Source: VIS