More than six centuries after it was founded by Pope Nicholas V, the
Vatican Library announced this week that it has made a first selection
of ancient manuscripts available for consultation online.
The first
256 documents to be digitalised form part of a broader project to make a
large section of this prestigious archive freely available to students,
scholars, researchers and teachers.
The library, founded in 1451, has
been supported in this work of digitalisation by a £2 million grant from
the Polonsky Foundation and other sponsors.
Speaking to Vatican
Radio on Wednesday, the prefect of the Vatican Library, Mgr Cesare
Pasini said it had taken two years to make this first selection of
manuscripts available online.
He said the majority of the documents have
been digitalised as a result of a joint project with the University of
Heidelberg in Germany.
A similar project with the Bodleian Libraries in
Oxford is also underway to make more of the material available as soon
as possible.
For full details of how to obtain an electronic reader’s pass for access to these documents, visit the website: www.vaticanlibrary.va