From a Joint Announcement:
Brill and Leiden University Libraries are proud to present the publication of the famous Latin manuscripts of Isaac Vossius under the title Codices Vossiani Latini Online.
The medieval manuscripts collection held by Leiden University Libraries is internationally renowned for its breadth and depth. Without doubt, the most valuable part consists of the Latin manuscripts collected by the humanist scholar Isaac Vossius (1618-1689), whose extensive library – the finest of the time according to contemporaries – was purchased en bloc by Leiden University in 1690.
Highlights of the Codices Vossiani Latini include the earliest sources of De rerum natura by Lucretius and those of Cicero’s philosophical works, the oldest extant illuminated herbal in Latin, and of course the ‘Leiden Aratea’ with its 39 magnificent constellation miniatures.
Brill and Leiden University Libraries have joined forces to digitize this important collection of manuscripts, allowing online access to a large community of scholars via BrillOnline Primary Sources.
The collection comprises 465 manuscripts in 363 (composite) volumes, counting over 80,000 pages, and joins a number of other digital collections on the platform, such as a selection from the extensive Middle Eastern manuscript holdings by Leiden University Libraries, the result of an earlier collaboration with Brill.
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