Medieval Studies Collection Development Policy

Collection Development Policy Statement Medieval Sutudies

Library Collections and Resources: Medieval Studies
Selector: John Rawlings
Date 9/16/01 rev. 1

I. Programmatic Information

The Program in Medieval Studies is administered through Humanities Special Programs. Although there is no formal undergraduate degree program, students may propose individually designed majors in Medieval Studies. In addition, the Medieval Studies Program serves as a loose affiliation of faculty and students whose research deals with the Middle Ages.

II. Coordination & Cooperative Information

Rev 12/29/1998 RLCP Cooperation, Draft
Rev 11/15/2006, Infra-Stanford cooperation

II. Coordination & Cooperative Information (11/15/06 and revision)

A cooperative initiative has begun under the auspices of the Research Library Cooperative Program. In the seventies and eighties there was coordination of expensive microforms through the UC/Stanford Shared Purchase Program. The collections SUL purchased through that program are listed at http://library.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/medieval/mssfilm.html. (B.L. Cotton on this list has been recently acquired).

At Stanford:

The French and Italian curator is primarily responsible for French and Italian languages and literatures, and for Italian Renaissance studies, in a broad sense and in all relevant languages. The Medieval selector collects in areas of his traditional and, sometimes, overlapping interest including philosophy; theology; monastic culture, church history and the Papacy; transmission of texts; manuscripts and libraries; and the Latin culture, generally, of Italy in the Middle Ages. The Medieval selector covers French history to ca. 1500, as well as 16th-Century Reformation sources and studies.

Sara Sussman writes 1/2009: " Currently, I select on Romance funds (following our decision in 12/06):

Italian Renaissance in English and Italian - not in Latin/Greek, etc.
Italian Middle Ages in English/Italian, overlapping with Medieval selector in fields such as library and mss catalogs, Church history as intertwined with Italian history

French Middle Ages - literature in French and vernacular languages, focus on romances.
French Renaissance - mainly 1500 on, but have a small endowed fund specifically for this. I also select works in history of Wars of Religion, Huguenots (shared area?), as well as Renaissance literature, with a focus on poetry.

I will continue to purchase the primary source standing orders for Medieval (mainly Droz: Textes litteraires francais; Travaux d'humanisme et renaissance; Biblioth`eque de l'Ecole des hautes etudes, IVe section, Sciences historiques et philologiques; Hautes etudes medievales et modernes; Histoire des idees et critique litteraire; Biblioth`eque de l'Ecole des chartes; Memoires et documents de l'Ecole des chartes; Cahiers Saussure)."

The Germanic curator covers Germanic languages and literatures [PD1001-5929; PF1-5999] and history for the period ca. 1500 to the present. The Medieval selector covers the period prior to 1500, and also aspires to collect at level 4F on the German Reformation.
The Iberian curator is primarily responsible for all publications on languages, literatures, and history published in and about his areas.
The Middle East curator is primarily responsible for Islam from its rise in the 7 th century, including publications in English and other European languages . The ME selector collects Islamic philosophy at 4W level and Moorish Spain 711-1516 at 3W . The Medieval selector collects some material relating to Islamic connections and influences on Europe and Byzantium, including the crusades and intellectual history.
The Russian and East European curator is primarily responsible for all publications published in and about her areas, including medieval Russia, Poland, Balkans. Books relating to these areas formerly purchased by the Medieval selector will in the future be referred to the Slavic selector. The curator buys some Byzantine history on her endowed fund for Modern Greek language materials, and also material in English and other Western languages, plus major works in Slavic languages.
The US/British History curator covers Great Britain from ca. 1485 to the present. The Medieval selector is primarily responsible for the earlier period from the end of Roman Empire. The Medieval selector also covers Celtic matters, including Pre-Roman Britain, at a 3W collecting level.
The US/British Literature curator covers English language (e.g., dictionaries, philological studies) and literatures ca. 1500-present. The Medieval selector is primarily responsible for Old English and Middle English.
The Art curator covers medieval art, architecture, and decorative arts. Art purchases material on the art & architecture of the Byzantine and Medieval worlds: "We anticipate this will continue to be a strong area of interest within the Dept. of Art & Art History, with Prof. Bissera Pentcheva bringing in Ph.D. students, as well as undergraduate honors thesis students. Graduate and undergraduate courses are taught regularly. Although we concentrate on English and European language material, Bissera does make requests for Slavic and Greek items as well. When she specifically requests such items for Art, we purchase on our funds for Art. We regularly point items to John R. and Wojciech as well. UCB Art does have faculty in this area (Early Christian to Medieval --David Wright), and we are in communication with the relevant bibliographer to establish relative program strengths." (Peter Blank, Art Librarian)
The Music curator covers medieval music.
The Lane Medical library has a rich collection of older material on the history of medicine. SUL collects current publications.
The Law Library selects widely on legal topics including collections of sources. Many of the latter, however, are in Green, e.g., MGH Leges.
The Jewish Studies curator has overall responsibility for this area; traditionally and currently the Medieval selector routinely collects books on Jewish life and thought in Medieval Europe, within the scope of the language and geographical limitations described herein.
The Religious Studies selector covers Christianity including the Papacy, monasticism, and theology in the Middle Ages. The Medieval selector also has an interest in these areas during the 4th to the 16th centuries, and also collects extensively on the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Acquisitions are coordinated between them. In other words, the Religious Studies selector covers LC classes BR, BS, BT, BV, and BX., with the exceptions stated above.
The History of Science curator is primarily responsible for the history of science and technology, though these materials are routinely selected by the Medieval selector covering such topics--during the medieval period--as philosophy, travel and exploration, warfare, and social and economic history generally.
The Classics curator covers the Late Empire to the conventional break of ca. 485 A.D. He also is responsible for Neo-Latin.

III. Subject & Language Modifiers

Geographical: Medieval Christendom, all its outposts, and those civilizations with which it had constant contact, primarily Islam and Byzantium, and those peoples (Franks, Northmen, Arabs, Turks) who through time attacked, settled or otherwise influenced the formative process of Europe.

Chronological : The Medieval Studies selector is responsible for many aspects of European civilization from ca. 500-1600 A.D.

Language : Source material in all relevant languages. Scholarly secondary literature primarily in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish.

IV. Description of Material Collected

Types of material collected : Primary sources are of the highest priority whether annals, chronicles, histories, charters, letters, economic records, literary texts, commentaries and glosses on all kinds of texts, etc. Published archival material as well as inventories and catalogs are actively sought. Manuscripts are routinely acquired on microfilm. Reference instrumenta are vigorously acquired. Non-print material is purchased upon request. The purchase or licensing of electronic databases and collections grows along with their availability.

Publication date : Current imprints emphasized. There is a limited retrospective collection development effort.

Synopsis of the Library’s Manuscript Collection Policy

Stanford’s collections are varied and valuable, especially useful for the teaching mission of the university but a great source for scholarly work as well: highlights include books of hours and devotional works for the late Middle Ages; Medieval fragments; and manuscripts in vernacular languages. Several of these manuscripts are used in class sessions each quarter; some manuscripts are the focus of scholarly study and some are used for research papers written by graduates and undergraduates. More than one course requires that student papers be written on relevant materials held in our Department of Special Collections, including manuscripts. Paleography has been taught in the past using our extensive collection of medieval fragments and will be taught in the current academic year.

Collecting Priorities

Within the areas of Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern manuscripts, Stanford’s priority is to build on its strengths and deepen its collections, tying acquisitions to faculty interest, research needs, and teaching. Specifically, the libraries seek to:

Continue to acquire illuminated manuscripts
To acquire manuscripts in Latin and vernacular languages over a wide range of eras
To acquire manuscripts in a broad range of academic areas, including but not limited to: literary manuscripts, religious history, manuscripts of interest in women’s history, manuscripts with a focus on social history; chronology, history, Classical learning, translation, literature, poetry, travel, diaries, and individual letters, especially unpublished letters
To build a collection that represents extensively the many different handwritings in use in the West throughout history

Goals for Manuscript Acquisition Program

To improve overall the holdings of the university libraries in these areas
To obtain manuscripts with research value for Stanford students, faculty, and the broader scholarly community; subject areas of interest include but are not limited to those listed above, under “Collecting Priorities”
To obtain manuscripts that complement our antiquarian book collections
To demonstrate the important role manuscripts have played in the transmission of culture and texts in the West
To provide materials with which to trains students in the area of paleography and reading vernacular hands over several centuries
To collect representative samples of the contribution of manuscripts in the general area of Art (e.g. miniatures)
To provide materials with which to train students in the areas of textual editing and textual criticism
To organize and publicize our manuscript collections in a scholarly way (beyond simple cataloging)
To consider the digital imaging of all manuscript acquisitions

For a listing of pre-1600 manuscripts currently owned by Stanford’s Department of Special Collections, please consult http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/medieval/mss/mansul.pdf