manuscripta.se: A National Infrastructure for Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts
Patrik Granholm, Curator of medieval and early modern manuscripts at the National Library of Sweden, presents the digital catalogue of medieval and early modern manuscripts in Swedish libraries.
manuscripta.se is a national research infrastructure dedicated to providing comprehensive digital access to medieval and early modern manuscripts preserved in Swedish collections. Developed and maintained by the National Library of Sweden, the platform brings together detailed scholarly descriptions and high‑resolution digitisations of manuscripts dating from the 4th to the 19th century, with current holdings encompassing over 1000 manuscripts. The long‑term goal is to offer full coverage of all medieval and early modern manuscripts in Sweden, with descriptions encoded in TEI and images delivered through IIIF.
The infrastructure is built entirely on open‑source technologies, and all source code and TEI files are openly accessible on GitHub, and all images are released without restriction under CC0, ensuring maximum reuse for research and teaching.
Several major cataloguing and digitisation initiatives currently rely on manuscripta.se as their technical and scholarly foundation. These include: the cataloguing of approximately 250 Swedish post‑medieval manuscripts; the ongoing work on around 200 medieval Latin manuscripts; the digitisation of roughly 400 West Norse manuscripts and conversion of legacy catalogues to TEI; the Nordic Law Books project focused on vernacular legal manuscripts (1100–1600); and a large‑scale digitisation effort involving about 700 manuscripts held by the National Library of Sweden and the Swedish National Heritage Board. Together, these projects underscore the platform’s role as a central hub for manuscript scholarship in Sweden, supporting both preservation and advanced digital research.