Library Guides: Medieval Manuscripts at UD: Research Resources

Getting Started

Features of a Manuscript Page
A single page of a medieval manuscript is full of information. This exercise comes from Harvard's Geoffrey Chaucer Website.

Online tutorials

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) School
HMML School teaches about scripts and manuscripts, introducing learners to the sciences of paleography and codicology. Choose a manuscript culture and follow the development of scripts through the centuries!

You can also learn how to transcribe manuscripts, representing the handwritten text in a form that can be used for further study and comparison with other copies of the text.
Introduction to Medieval Books (University of Nottingham)
A book (sometimes called a codex) is a collection of sheets bound at one side. It has been remarkably long-lived as a piece of technology. This unit explores how medieval books were designed, laid out, decorated and bound.
Types of Scripts (Harvard's Geoffrey Chaucer Website)
Medieval scribes learned different types of handwriting, or scripts, for different kinds of documents. Some scripts are suited towards formal, aesthetically appealing productions like a presentation bible, and others are designed for documents that need to be quickly and cheaply produced, like legal charters. This page offers the briefest of introductions to the scripts relevant to students of Middle English texts.

Databases

These databases span multiple disciplines and formats, with resources relevant to medieval and renaissance scholarship broadly.

Acta Sanctorum
This collection contains the comprehensive hagiographical records of saints, featuring biographies, historical texts, and religious significance from the early church to modern times.
This collection of documents recounts the exemplary lives, deaths, miracles, and other deeds of saints of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as major historical moments in their subsequent veneration, providing a principal source for research into the societies and cultures of early Christian and Medieval Europe. These texts were published over a period of 300 (1643 to 1940) years by the Société des Bollandistes.
Iter Bibliography
Access scholarly resources, including articles, books, and primary sources, focused on the Middle Ages and Renaissance, supporting interdisciplinary research.
Formally known as "Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance," this index of secondary sources written from the 18th century to present covers the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700). It includes citations for books, journal material (articles, reviews, review articles, bibliographies, catalogues, abstracts, and discographies), and essays in books (including entries in conference proceedings, festschriften, encyclopedias, and exhibition catalogues).
JSTOR
A digital library with over 12 million academic journal articles, books, and primary sources in diverse fields, ideal for research and scholarly exploration.
This archive is a collection of over 12 million full-text scholarly journal articles, e-books, periodicals, images, and primary sources in 75 disciplines. Browse subject areas including Arts, Business & Economics, History, Humanities, Law, Medicine & Allied Health, Science & Mathematics, and Social Sciences. JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization that also includes Artstor, Ithaka S+R, and Portico.
Project Muse
An online platform providing access to scholarly journals and books in the humanities, arts, and social sciences, supporting research and academic scholarship with full-text content.
This interdisciplinary collection provides full-text access to high-quality, scholarly journals and e-books in the humanities, arts, and social sciences from various publishers. Disciplines covered include visual & performing arts, anthropology, literature & literary criticism, film, theatre, history, ethnic & cultural studies, music, philosophy, religion, political science, psychology, sociology, and women's studies. Browse books, journals, case studies, and primary sources.