We digitised 16th-century manuscripts from the Batthyaneum collection in unprecedented quality

The project has begun in which, on commission from the Baptist Pedagogical Institute of Hungarian Baptist Aid, we are digitising several thousand pages of manuscripts and codices. The first stop of this work, which spans several points of the Carpathian Basin, was Alba Iulia, where we put 19 Anabaptist manuscripts held in the Batthyaneum Library (a branch of the National Library of Romania) under the lens. Our specialists, Dániel Bedő and Márton Novák, processed nearly 6,000 pages in a week from these particularly sensitive documents, several hundred years old.

The library was founded in 1804 on the initiative of Count Ignác Batthyány. It was previously part of the Batthyány Castle, and then continued as an independent institution. The Batthyaneum is one of Europe’s most valuable libraries; its rich collection comprises more than 300,000 volumes. The building also houses the Transylvanian Museum Society (Erdélyi Múzeum Egyesület). Rare and valuable books, manuscripts, printed matter and maps are kept here. The Batthyaneum plays an important role in Hungarian and international scholarly life, and also serves as a cultural centre in Alba Iulia. Exhibitions, events and scholarly conferences are regularly held in the library. Just while we were there, they received the joyful news that several of the library’s codices had been successfully declared part of the UNESCO World Heritage. Among the 11 codices are such unique materials as the Codex Aureus or the Ada Codex.

Materials digitised in the project:

1. JOHANNES DENCK: WAS GEREDET SEY DASS DIE GESCHRIFFT SAGT GOTT THUE UND MACHE, GUTS UND BOSES, I 128. Ms
2. ISAAC DÖLLER: ANKUFT DER KIRCHE CHRISTI ZU JERUSALEM nach seiner Geburt und Himmelfahrt ab a.1332-1570. Darneben wird auch des Antichristen Versammlung, wie diese jenige allzeit bio auf diese Stundt verfolgt hat verzeichnet. Von...geschrieben a.1638, Ms II 119
3. CANTIONALE ANABAPTISTABUM, Ms III 62
4. BRIEFE UND BEKENNTNISSE DES CHRISTLICHEN GLAUBENS, Ms III 90
5. ANSCHLAG UND FURWENDEN DER BLINDEN VERKEHRTEN WELT UND ALIER GOTTLOSEN GEGEN DER FROMMEN: Ms III 91
6. CHRONICA UND KURZE GESCHICHTE...WIE GOTT MIT SEINES AUSSERWEHLTEN GEHANDELTEN HAT 1630-1708, Ms III 93
7. NICOLAUS BRAIDL, Ms III 96
8. CANTIONALE ANABAPTISTARUM, Ms III 97
9. JOHANNES DENCK: Ms III 100
10. KURZE GESCHICHTE DER KIRCHE CHRISTI. AUSLEGUNG DER GLAUBENS- ARTICKEL. BRIEFE VON JÖRG FASSER, LEONHARD DAXEN, HANS AMON, Ms III 104
11. SCHŐNER BERICHT UND UNTERWEISUNG DIE UNGLAUBIGEN VON IHREM IHRTUMB ABZUWEISEN, Ms III 107
12. BIBLISCHE BEISPIELE AUS DEM A... UND N. TESTAMENT, Ms III 117
13. AMBROSIUS RESCH, Ms III 118
14. SIMEON LORENTZ, Ms III 168
15. DAS GULDEN ABC MIT VERSCHIEDENEN RELIGIÖSEN BETRACHTUNGEN, Ms III 187
16. BERICHT UND BEKANNTNUS ETLICHER GLAUBENS-ARTIKEL DER BRUEDER SO MAN DIE HUETERISCHEN ODER MAHRISCHEN NENNET, Ms III 188
17. Historia anabaptistarum urbis Monasteriensis in Westphalia, auctore mag. Hermanno a Kersenbroch rectore scholae, Ms XI 90
18. MANUSCRIS ANABAPTIST, Ms III 124.
19. Ambrosius Resch: EIN KLEIN GRÜNDTLICHS DENCK-BICHLEIN SEIT 1524- 1642 JAR mit den rechtglaubigen und frommen Menschen hatt zuegetragen und wie sich die Gmein Gottes wiederumb hatt angefangen und vermeert ist worden..., Ms I 122.

Because of their special sensitivity, we captured these materials with Phase One iXH reproduction camera systems and in accordance with the FADGI 4-star guidelines, so that they can be preserved for posterity in the best possible quality and for the long term.

Soon all of these manuscripts, which are also relevant to the history of Transylvania and represent the Anabaptist community of Vințu de Jos (Alvinc) in the 16th–18th centuries, will be available online, so that material never before published to the public will become researchable. The project is coordinated by historian László Balog, a member of staff of the Baptist Pedagogical Institute, and Dr Csaba Szabó, its Director General.