Grundeintrag 1999

The Manuscript Collection of the National and University Library (NUL, Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica) is the central national and state-owned collection of manuscript material from the fields of literature, linguistics and broader humanities in Slovenia. Its founding dates back to 1774, together with that of the National Library itself. Its initial funds were medieval codices and papers from monastic, archbishop’s and private libraries. The collection was enriched in 19th century when it gained, through purchases and donations, several more expensive private collections of manuscript material, e. g. those of Sigismund Zois and Bartholomaeus Kopitar, and even more in the 20th century with continuous affluence of manuscripts and legacies of individual authors and collectors. The collection is being supplemented continuously with older materials gained through purchases and donations from antiquarians and collectors, mostly with literary legacies of 20th century authors.

The extent of funds on 31 December 1999: 440 running metres of materials, 3.550 manuscript units (shelf marks).

The contents of the older manuscript materials (9th-15th century) is mostly liturgical and scientific (theology, law, etc.), while those of more recent materials (16th-20th century) is mostly literary (poetry, fiction, drama, essays) and documentary (personal, school and business documents, photographs, etc.) with correspondence. All prominent Slovenian authors are represented, e. g. Primoÿ Trubar, žiga Zois, Anton Linhart, Valentin Vodnik, France Prešeren, Simon Gregorčič, Josip Jurčič, Anton Aškerc, Ivan Cankar, Oton župančič, Alojz Gradnik, Srečko Kosovel, and Edvard Kocbek. A great deal of the older material, especially correspondence, is written in foreign languages.

The catalogued materials have been processed according to classical standard. The description of each unit consists of three parts: shelf mark and heading, e. g. Ms 1421, Kocbek Edvard: Legacy (11.000); bibliographic description, and information on provenance. Bibliographical description includes records of each particular piece in terms of contents and can be very extensive, e. g. up to ten pages. There are records of all documents, works, and names of all correspondents. At the end, information on provenance is added. All catalogue units are published in printed catalogues, nine volumes, Ms 1-Ms 1570, including extensive name indexes.

Documentation on materials: card catalogue (typed and partly handwritten): Ms 1-Ms 1570; inventory card catalogue of manuscripts not yet catalogued; printed catalogue of NUL manuscripts: Ms 1-Ms 1470 (nine volumes); local computer database: Ms 1171-Ms 1570.

All catalogues are alphabetical author catalogues; there is no autograph manuscript catalogue. The only special catalogue is that of Kopitar’s collection of Slavic codices.