Boston Public Library’s 35-Foot, 545-Year-Old Scroll Now Digitized
Image via Digital Commonwealth
The Boston Public Library announced Monday that the Chronique Anonyme Universelle—a 35-foot, 545-year-old scroll tracing Biblical events all the way up to the founding of London—has been made available online for your reading pleasure.
The Chronique Anonyme Universelle (or “Geneology of the Bible”) dates back to around 1470-79, and chronicles not only Greek and Roman histories, but the establishment of royal houses in England and France as well. The manuscript, replete with Parisian illustrations and beautiful Gothic script, was digitized by Boston College and made available on the Digital Commonwealth portal.
“It is our great pleasure to share the Chronique Anonyme Universelle in its entirety and to bring viewers back to a significant time period that explores so many elements of our collective history,” BPL Digital Projects Manager Tom Blake said in a release. “Boston Public Library is proud of our ongoing commitment to digitize our collections and connect audiences with a breadth of items they may not see otherwise.”
The Chronique Anonyme Universelle is part of the BPL’s Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts, one of the library’s 27 “Collections of Distinction.” You can view the scroll in its entirety here.
