Thoughts on Antiquity, Patristics, putting things online, freedom of speech, information access, and more
There is an interesting post at the British Library manuscripts blog, Images in the public domain. Just a reminder that images from our Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts are now available under a Public Domain mark. This means that they are available for download and reuse, on condition that certain basic principles are observed: (1) please [...]
A marvellous post at the British Library manuscripts blog. It begins with the encouraging statement: The British Library is committed to making available online as many of its medieval manuscripts as possible. And then it goes on to discuss how the ancient Codex Alexandrinus of the bible, currently bound in 4 volumes, had to be [...]
I’ve commissioned translations of Ephraim the Syrian, Hymns against heresies 23 and 24, to be done by Christmas. Looking forward to those! Together with hymn 22, they form a group against Marcionism. I’ve now received by ILL To Mega Biblion, on the presence of end titles and the like in ancient papyri of Homer. It [...]
At the British Library manuscripts blog, there is news. Final Harley Science Manuscripts Published We are delighted to announce that the remaining manuscripts in our Harley Science Project have now been published to the British Library’s Digitised Manuscripts site. All 150 manuscripts in this project have been digitised and recatalogued thanks to the generosity of William and Judith [...]
I learn from the British Library manuscripts blog that a further bunch of manuscripts from the Harley collection have now been placed online at their site, courtesy of funding by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. These are described as “science manuscripts”, which of course covers a multitude of things, not all of them interesting to us. [...]
It seems that the BL will allow Google to place 250,000 books published between 1700 and 1870 online. See AFP article here. All the works will be available for text search download and reading on the British Library’s website www.bl.uk and at Google Books on books.google.co.uk. The cost of digitising all 40 million pages will [...]
They say a leopard cannot change its spots, and too often, this is so. Over the last few years I have documented various outrageous examples of greed and cynicism by the British Library. The BL is, remember, a body entirely funded by the money of others. That money is not given freely. It is exacted by [...]
At the British Library manuscripts blog, Julian Harrison is paying attention, and well done to him. In response to comments like those here, he’s today posted a list of the 25 newly uploaded manuscripts. Here it is, with extra text by me. Additional MS 4949 – 12th c. four gospels Additional MS 4950 – 13th [...]
An announcement on the British Library manuscripts blog here tells us: Phase two of the British Library’s project to digitise all of its ca. 1,000 Greek manuscripts is now well under way. This phase — also generously funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation) — will digitise and make publicly available a further 250 manuscripts, adding [...]
I learn from here via here that Juan Garces, the go-ahead curator of Greek manuscripts at the British Library, has got 284 manuscripts online. It’s well worth browsing the four pages of the list. There’s a manuscript of Zosimus New History in there, for instance. Despite pleas from Biblical people, it’s mostly classical or patristic or [...]