Partner Project

Project title: Manuscripts across the seas: Discovering medieval manuscript fragments in Australian and New Zealand library collections

Project lead: Rose Faunce

Host institution: The Australian National University

Project summary: The project will develop the first catalogue of early modern manuscript fragments in Australian and New Zealand library collections. It builds on preliminary work to produce an inventory of the small holdings of fragments in university libraries, of the Australian National University, University of Tasmania, University of Sydney, University of Melbourne, and University of Adelaide.

The project aims to document the fragments and publish the metadata along with high-resolution images in Fragmentarium. Each fragment will be identified, its description enriched, and a transcription of the text created. Attention will be given to ascertain when and why the fragments made the journey across the seas to Australia and New Zealand, and to uncover, as far as can be, details about the original manuscript.

A key objective of the project is to increase the discoverability and accessibility of these geographically remote collections of fragments and make them known to a global audience of scholars. Publication, on Fragmentarium in particular, will enable digital surrogates of each fragment to be examined side-by-side with other surviving fragments from dismantled manuscripts dispersed in numerous countries around the world and open opportunities to collaborate in international virtual reconstruction initiatives.