The new Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts

The University of Pennsylvania Libraries is pleased to announce the launch of the new Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts. Since early November, a new search interface has been available in beta version for testing. Thanks to feedback from users, we have been able to revise and upgrade search functionality to offer users a more flexible, powerful, and accurate search.

The revised Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts is now available through the Penn Libraries' Digital Library Architecture. The new search interface features:

* Faceted searching on over 25 fields
* Greater search flexibility with multi-field keyword and numeric range advanced searching
* Comprehensive browse lists for sellers, collections, catalogues, authors, titles, provenance, and more
* Revised transaction and bibliographic data for auction, sales, and institutional catalogues
* Plus, the same commitment to providing the most accurate available data on manuscripts produced before 1600

To access the website, click on the link above or go to: http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/schoenberg . Please send comments or questions to Lynn Ransom (lransom@pobox.upenn.edu).

The Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts makes available data on medieval manuscript books of five or more folios produced before 1600 in order to facilitate research for scholars, collectors, and others interested in manuscript studies and the provenance of these unique books. Drawn from auction and sales catalogues, inventories, catalogues from institutional and private collections, and other sources that document sales and locations of manuscript books, the records assist in locating and identifying particular manuscripts, establishing provenance, and aggregating descriptive information about specific classes or types of manuscripts. It was begun in 1997 by Penn Libraries Overseer Lawrence J. Schoenberg (C'53, WG'56). In 2007, he entrusted the Penn Libraries with its maintenance and development. The database now contains over 160,000 searchable records and continues to grow on a daily basis.