Medieval Studies
- Description
Primary sources for medieval studies have typically consisted of manuscripts and incunabula housed in special collections, microform series containing voluminous manuscript collections, as well as print facsimile and standard critical editions of classic works. CRL’s medieval resources are primarily Western European and are a result of either deposit or the use of various collection programs CRL offers. Examples of acquisitions include the set of microfiche Arabic Manuscripts in the British Library - Hadith Kalam from the Purchase Proposal Program, and the microfilm set Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts of St. John’s College, Oxford: manuscripts dating from the 10th century to the 16th century through the Shared Purchase Program.
Doctoral dissertations, while not primary sources, offer vital resources for medieval studies. CRL holds more than 800,000 foreign doctoral dissertations from universities outside the U.S. and Canada. These dissertations provide North American researchers with the most current analyses from the European scholarly community. Access to European dissertations puts the North American medievalist in close dialogue with a vigorous community of scholarly inquiry into the Middle Ages in the contemporary U.K., France, Italy, Germany, and beyond. CRL’s collection of dissertations are included in the main catalog, and can be searched under the “Dissertations” tab on the online catalog page. A keyword search on “medieval” or “mediaeval” retrieves almost 1,000 records. Current acquisitions of dissertations focus on purchasing dissertations through the Demand Purchase Program.