Throwback to Microfilm

In an extraordinary change of policy, the Vatican Library appears to have given up its emphasis on digitally color-scanning its manuscripts for online release. Instead it is following the cheap and cheerful option of posting images of its old black-and-white microfilm online. This explains how, just after noon on January 23, 2017, it was able in one fell swoop to post images of nearly 4,000 new manuscripts.

The manuscripts portal, now boasts links to an impressive 10,338 manuscripts, probably making it from this date the biggest single online library in the the world of medieval and early modern hand-penned books.

However the retrograde step to low quality is disappointing. Microfilming of the Vatican manuscripts began in the 1950s and the quality of these grainy black and white images is far below what scholars expect nowadays. In many cases words are entirely illegible or lost in dark folds and gutters. The illuminations are often just murky patches of grey.

Color scanning was an enormous advance. The books are laid in cradles under shadowless light and photographed from two angles, with the images then post-processed. The Library is being frank about this downgrade and is marking the microfilms as "low quality", but offers no explanation of why it is changing course. [Later note: there has since been an assurance that these manuscripts will be color-scanned, and that the black-and-white versions are merely stopgaps.]

I may not be able to offer you a complete list of this massive release as the work required to collate it would simply be beyond my time and resources. But here is a small sample: the Reginense latino series, has suddenly grown from 93 items to 492. All of the 399 additions are marked  "low quality" though many really did deserve better treatment:

1. Reg.lat.19
2. Reg.lat.21
3. Reg.lat.27
4. Reg.lat.29
5. Reg.lat.37
6. Reg.lat.49
7. Reg.lat.52
8. Reg.lat.66
9. Reg.lat.67
10. Reg.lat.69, Carolingian? with Alcuin, John the Deacon and others.
11. Reg.lat.75
12. Reg.lat.91
13. Reg.lat.93
14. Reg.lat.96
15. Reg.lat.99
16. Reg.lat.106
17. Reg.lat.107,
18. Reg.lat.116
19. Reg.lat.117
20. Reg.lat.122
21. Reg.lat.124, Rabanus Maurus: De laudibus sanctae crucis: A principal copy made in 825 or 826: read this introduction to the Liber de_laudibus_Sanctae_Crucis. On the author: Wikipedia. The reproduction of this beautiful book is in fact a color scan
    
22. Reg.lat.125
23. Reg.lat.126
24. Reg.lat.129
25. Reg.lat.132
26. Reg.lat.133
27. Reg.lat.134
28. Reg.lat.140
29. Reg.lat.141
30. Reg.lat.147
31. Reg.lat.150
32. Reg.lat.160
33. Reg.lat.162
34. Reg.lat.167
35. Reg.lat.185
36. Reg.lat.187
37. Reg.lat.191
38. Reg.lat.193
39. Reg.lat.194
40. Reg.lat.195
41. Reg.lat.201
42. Reg.lat.215
43. Reg.lat.219
44. Reg.lat.222
45. Reg.lat.224
46. Reg.lat.230
47. Reg.lat.234
48. Reg.lat.251
49. Reg.lat.255
50. Reg.lat.258
51. Reg.lat.263
52. Reg.lat.272
53. Reg.lat.274
54. Reg.lat.280
55. Reg.lat.288
56. Reg.lat.294
57. Reg.lat.296
58. Reg.lat.300
59. Reg.lat.304
60. Reg.lat.306
61. Reg.lat.309, a copy of a famed Carolingian compendium of astronomy, the Handbook of 809. Horrible imaging:
    
62. Reg.lat.310
63. Reg.lat.318
64. Reg.lat.324
65. Reg.lat.333
66. Reg.lat.338
67. Reg.lat.342
68. Reg.lat.343
69. Reg.lat.344
70. Reg.lat.348
71. Reg.lat.358
72. Reg.lat.373
73. Reg.lat.377
74. Reg.lat.378
75. Reg.lat.379
76. Reg.lat.385.pt.1
77. Reg.lat.385.pt.2
78. Reg.lat.388
79. Reg.lat.399
80. Reg.lat.407
81. Reg.lat.424
82. Reg.lat.426
83. Reg.lat.430
84. Reg.lat.432
85. Reg.lat.453
86. Reg.lat.455
87. Reg.lat.457
88. Reg.lat.463
89. Reg.lat.467
90. Reg.lat.469
91. Reg.lat.470
92. Reg.lat.471
93. Reg.lat.477
94. Reg.lat.479
95. Reg.lat.480
96. Reg.lat.481
97. Reg.lat.482
98. Reg.lat.484
99. Reg.lat.486
100. Reg.lat.489
101. Reg.lat.497, contains a single folio of the Old English history of the Viking Ohthere of Hålogaland (Wikipedia)
102. Reg.lat.498
103. Reg.lat.499
104. Reg.lat.500
105. Reg.lat.509
106. Reg.lat.516
107. Reg.lat.517
108. Reg.lat.520
109. Reg.lat.521
110. Reg.lat.522
111. Reg.lat.523
112. Reg.lat.524
113. Reg.lat.529
114. Reg.lat.532
115. Reg.lat.535
116. Reg.lat.539
117. Reg.lat.540
118. Reg.lat.541
119. Reg.lat.543
120. Reg.lat.544
121. Reg.lat.548
122. Reg.lat.553.pt.1
123. Reg.lat.553.pt.2
124. Reg.lat.556.pt.1
125. Reg.lat.556.pt.2
126. Reg.lat.558
127. Reg.lat.561
128. Reg.lat.562
129. Reg.lat.566, the only existing manuscript of the Epitoma of Helgaud
130. Reg.lat.568
131. Reg.lat.571
132. Reg.lat.572
133. Reg.lat.576
134. Reg.lat.577
135. Reg.lat.578
136. Reg.lat.579
137. Reg.lat.580
138. Reg.lat.582
139. Reg.lat.585
140. Reg.lat.592
141. Reg.lat.593
142. Reg.lat.596
143. Reg.lat.598
144. Reg.lat.605
145. Reg.lat.606
146. Reg.lat.610
147. Reg.lat.612
148. Reg.lat.616
149. Reg.lat.620
150. Reg.lat.621
151. Reg.lat.624
152. Reg.lat.630
153. Reg.lat.631
154. Reg.lat.633.pt.1
155. Reg.lat.633.pt.2
156. Reg.lat.641
157. Reg.lat.644
158. Reg.lat.648
159. Reg.lat.657
160. Reg.lat.658
161. Reg.lat.666
162. Reg.lat.667
163. Reg.lat.668
164. Reg.lat.669
165. Reg.lat.672
166. Reg.lat.673
167. Reg.lat.681
168. Reg.lat.692
169. Reg.lat.694
170. Reg.lat.703.pt.1
171. Reg.lat.703.pt.2
172. Reg.lat.712
173. Reg.lat.722
174. Reg.lat.727
175. Reg.lat.729
176. Reg.lat.736
177. Reg.lat.738
178. Reg.lat.744.pt.1
179. Reg.lat.744.pt.2
180. Reg.lat.745
181. Reg.lat.750
182. Reg.lat.755
183. Reg.lat.760
184. Reg.lat.763
185. Reg.lat.767
186. Reg.lat.768
187. Reg.lat.774
188. Reg.lat.776
189. Reg.lat.777
190. Reg.lat.781
191. Reg.lat.787
192. Reg.lat.791
193. Reg.lat.807
194. Reg.lat.827
195. Reg.lat.830
196. Reg.lat.832
197. Reg.lat.833
198. Reg.lat.834
199. Reg.lat.835
200. Reg.lat.838
201. Reg.lat.846
202. Reg.lat.849
203. Reg.lat.852
204. Reg.lat.857
205. Reg.lat.859
206. Reg.lat.863
207. Reg.lat.868
208. Reg.lat.902
209. Reg.lat.920
210. Reg.lat.921
211. Reg.lat.923
212. Reg.lat.931
213. Reg.lat.936
214. Reg.lat.937
215. Reg.lat.944
216. Reg.lat.951
217. Reg.lat.971
218. Reg.lat.973
219. Reg.lat.977
220. Reg.lat.982
221. Reg.lat.992
222. Reg.lat.1003
223. Reg.lat.1010
224. Reg.lat.1023, this is one of the most important Roman law texts with various arbor juris schemata. Most are semi-illegible:
     
225. Reg.lat.1048
226. Reg.lat.1050
227. Reg.lat.1054
228. Reg.lat.1061
229. Reg.lat.1099
230. Reg.lat.1104
231. Reg.lat.1115
232. Reg.lat.1123
233. Reg.lat.1127
234. Reg.lat.1128
235. Reg.lat.1131
236. Reg.lat.1140
237. Reg.lat.1145
238. Reg.lat.1148
239. Reg.lat.1171
240. Reg.lat.1177
241. Reg.lat.1205
242. Reg.lat.1209
243. Reg.lat.1220
244. Reg.lat.1238
245. Reg.lat.1241
246. Reg.lat.1245
247. Reg.lat.1253
248. Reg.lat.1260
249. Reg.lat.1263
250. Reg.lat.1268
251. Reg.lat.1272
252. Reg.lat.1276
253. Reg.lat.1281
254. Reg.lat.1282
255. Reg.lat.1290
256. Reg.lat.1294
257. Reg.lat.1297.pt.1
258. Reg.lat.1297.pt.2
259. Reg.lat.1315
260. Reg.lat.1352
261. Reg.lat.1354
262. Reg.lat.1357
263. Reg.lat.1364
264. Reg.lat.1370, the earliest grammar (1437 – 1441) of a Romance language (Tuscan). See HistoryofInformation.com and Cecil Grayson.
265. Reg.lat.1385
266. Reg.lat.1388
267. Reg.lat.1389
268. Reg.lat.1391
269. Reg.lat.1418
270. Reg.lat.1421
271. Reg.lat.1429
272. Reg.lat.1431
273. Reg.lat.1442
274. Reg.lat.1446
275. Reg.lat.1456
276. Reg.lat.1461
277. Reg.lat.1479
278. Reg.lat.1481
279. Reg.lat.1486
280. Reg.lat.1490, Chansonnier cangé: see an account of the trobairitz female troubadours.
     
281. Reg.lat.1495
282. Reg.lat.1496
283. Reg.lat.1501
284. Reg.lat.1505
285. Reg.lat.1511
286. Reg.lat.1513
287. Reg.lat.1516
288. Reg.lat.1517
289. Reg.lat.1519
290. Reg.lat.1531
291. Reg.lat.1541
292. Reg.lat.1549
293. Reg.lat.1553, an early 9th-century copy of the Bern Riddles
294. Reg.lat.1555
295. Reg.lat.1556
296. Reg.lat.1557
297. Reg.lat.1560
298. Reg.lat.1569
299. Reg.lat.1570
300. Reg.lat.1572, this is a most remarkable manuscript, uniquely containing a previously lost Latin philosophical text dating from antiquity, the missing part 3 of De Platone by the 2nd-century writer Apuleius. Justin Stover points out this discovery was made in 1949 by the historian of philosophy Raymond Klibansky, who neither disclosed the location nor published any edition by the time of his death in 2005. [Justin Stover kindly points out (comment below) that Klibansky did reveal the shelfmark in 1993, in his catalogue of the manuscripts of Apuleius' philosophical works, with Frank Regen, Die Handschriften der philosophischen Werke des Apuleius.] Here is the book's start at fol. 77r (frame 78): 
     
     Stover's edition, A New Work by Apuleius: The Lost Third Book of the De Platone, has since appeared with OUP. (HT to Pieter Buellens (@LatinAristotle).)
301. Reg.lat.1573
302. Reg.lat.1575
303. Reg.lat.1583
304. Reg.lat.1584
305. Reg.lat.1591
306. Reg.lat.1592
307. Reg.lat.1593
308. Reg.lat.1595
309. Reg.lat.1598
310. Reg.lat.1602
311. Reg.lat.1603
312. Reg.lat.1616
313. Reg.lat.1624
314. Reg.lat.1630
315. Reg.lat.1637.pt.1
316. Reg.lat.1637.pt.2
317. Reg.lat.1638
318. Reg.lat.1642
319. Reg.lat.1650
320. Reg.lat.1652
321. Reg.lat.1659
322. Reg.lat.1666
323. Reg.lat.1669
324. Reg.lat.1670
325. Reg.lat.1671
326. Reg.lat.1672
327. Reg.lat.1673
328. Reg.lat.1676
329. Reg.lat.1682
330. Reg.lat.1684
331. Reg.lat.1686
332. Reg.lat.1691
333. Reg.lat.1708
334. Reg.lat.1716
335. Reg.lat.1719
336. Reg.lat.1721
337. Reg.lat.1722
338. Reg.lat.1723
339. Reg.lat.1725
340. Reg.lat.1731
341. Reg.lat.1738
342. Reg.lat.1758
343. Reg.lat.1762
344. Reg.lat.1773
345. Reg.lat.1801
346. Reg.lat.1803
347. Reg.lat.1805
348. Reg.lat.1806
349. Reg.lat.1809
350. Reg.lat.1818
351. Reg.lat.1824
352. Reg.lat.1825
353. Reg.lat.1830
354. Reg.lat.1832
355. Reg.lat.1834
356. Reg.lat.1837
357. Reg.lat.1840
358. Reg.lat.1841
359. Reg.lat.1845
360. Reg.lat.1848
361. Reg.lat.1849
362. Reg.lat.1852
363. Reg.lat.1853
364. Reg.lat.1863
365. Reg.lat.1867
366. Reg.lat.1870
367. Reg.lat.1875
368. Reg.lat.1884
369. Reg.lat.1894
370. Reg.lat.1909
371. Reg.lat.1910
372. Reg.lat.1911
373. Reg.lat.1914
374. Reg.lat.1958
375. Reg.lat.1964
376. Reg.lat.1970
377. Reg.lat.1971
378. Reg.lat.1973
379. Reg.lat.1987
380. Reg.lat.2000
381. Reg.lat.2001
382. Reg.lat.2018
383. Reg.lat.2021, with Girolamo Mei, Letter to Vincenzo Galilei
384. Reg.lat.2023
385. Reg.lat.2043
386. Reg.lat.2049
387. Reg.lat.2052
388. Reg.lat.2061
389. Reg.lat.2062
390. Reg.lat.2071
391. Reg.lat.2077, Palimpsest, Lowe CLA 1 114 and 115
392. Reg.lat.2079
393. Reg.lat.2082
394. Reg.lat.2090
395. Reg.lat.2099
396. Reg.lat.2102
397. Reg.lat.2103
398. Reg.lat.2120
399. Reg.lat.???: item missed in my haste

This is Piggin's Unofficial List number 89. If you have corrections or additions, please use the comments box below. Follow me on Twitter (@JBPiggin) for news of more additions to DigiVatLib.