Catalogue of medieval Helmstedt manuscripts

Cod. Guelf. 65 Helmst., fol. 12v

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding a five-year segment in a project which will produce a new catalogue of the medieval manuscripts of the Herzog August Bibliothek. Our aim is to provide a modern catalogue of all the manuscripts which will gradually replace the catalogue by Otto von Heinemann (1884ff.). The detailed cataloguing follows the standards set by the DFG.

During the next two years approximately 60 medieval manscripts (Cod. Guelf. 277 - 349 Helmst.) will be described. The manuscripts are mainly in Latin and are partly from the monasteries and nunneries of Lower Saxony. They came into the library in the 16th century during the Reformation period. Other manuscripts containing texts on history and canon law came from the collection of Matthias Flacius Illyricus (1520-1575) which was purchased in 1597.

During a first project segment from 2001-2007 Dr. Dieter Merzbacher, Dr. Christian Heitzmann and Dr. Helmar Härtel described 150 medieval manuscripts from the Helmstedt collection (Cod. Guelf. 1 to 276 Helmst.). A printed catalogue is forthcoming.

All descriptions will be published online on Manuscripta Mediaevalia using the results of the MASTER-project and based on the TEI standard.

The identification and description of the late medieval bindings is being carried out in close co-operation with another project funded by the DFG, the Database of medieval and Renaissance binding stamps.

An Index of the manuscripts already described and of the manuscripts which will be described during the second project segment is available.

The project is part of the main research area at the HAB on the history of the University of Helmstedt. Further projects on this topic are:

Duration: 2001–2007, 2008–2012

Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Researcher: Dr. Bertram Lesser
Phone: +49(0)5331/808-128, Fax -165