Vatican
City, 3 December 2013 (VIS) – The Vatican Apostolic Library (BAV)
and the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford have joined
forces to digitalise and make available online some of the most
important and unique Bibles in the world, as well as biblical texts
from their collections. From today, 3 December, the digitalised 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 digitalisation 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 digitalised, 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
digitalisation 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, digitalisation techniques and methods
used during the project completes the site, which may be viewed in
both English and Italian.
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