On 22 May, the beta version of the Library of Latin Texts received its third update. It now covers Latin literature from the third century BC up to the fourteenth century AD.

In the previous blogpost, we explained why we introduced the concept of “collections” to the structure of the database. In this blog post, we will focus on the background information provided for each person, work, and collection.

While persons and works may be familiar to researchers dedicated to the specific field they belong to, researchers from a different field might not be familiar with them and might need more context. Until now, only works had a few paragraphs providing background information. The new version of the LLT allows us to present information where it is most relevant: on the record of the author, the collection, or the work.

Persons

For persons, the LLT provides:

1. A date statement, based on modern research (i.e. the person’s life dates where possible, otherwise an approximate date);
2. A biographical sketch situates each person within their historical and geographical context. While not fully encyclopaedic, the biography should offer enough detail to understand the essence of the individual’s life and work. In the previous version of the LLT, this information was often included in the background information of a work.
3. A series of external links as starting points for additional research. These links include relevant records in other BREPOLiS databases (e.g. Clavis Clavium or L’Année philologique) and authority files (e.g. Wikidata or the Library of Congress). For persons described in domain-specific research projects, we try to include links to those as well (e.g. the Dictionary of Irish Biography for Irish authors). Please contact the CTLO if you want to link your research project to the LLT as well.

Works

When it comes to works, we provide the following information:

1. The person(s) related to the work (as author, translation, addressee, etc.);
2. The century when the work was composed (where necessary with a dubium or terminus ante/post quem qualification);
3. The edition used as the basis for the text as included in the LLT;
4. Key reference work numbers referring to authoritative sources such as the Clavis Patrum Latinorum or the index of the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae (cf. the upcoming blog post on reference works);
5. A description of the work, outlining its contents and transmission and providing notes on the specific treatment within the LLT (e.g. corrections or remarks on variants);
6. An approximate classification of the text within an established taxonomy, focussing on its genre, topic, and area of origin (cf. the upcoming blog post on taxonomy).

It should be noted that the description of a work aims to highlight details about its transmission or edition that might otherwise escape the user’s attention. In some cases, we will mention the reasons for selecting a particular edition or we will mention errata in the edition that came up during processing or that were pointed out to us by the editors or by database users.

Collections

As explained in the blog post on “Collections”, we have introduced this new level to encompass works that are expected to be presented together despite differences in authorship or dating (e.g. letter collections or translations with an introduction by their translator).

While collections inevitably do not contain all the detailed information that can be provided for a work, the LLT offers the following information on collection records:

1. The person(s) related to the various works within the collection;
2. Reference work numbers that identify the collection as a whole (e.g. CPL 262 for the correspondence of Saint Augustine);
3. A description of the collection, explaining its contents and the reasons for its treatment as a collection;
4. The taxonomy entries assigned to the various works within the collection.

Future developments

Because of the large number of texts currently in the LLT, providing each entry with an appropriate description is a huge undertaking and, therefore, an ongoing effort. With each coming update, more entries will be contextualized.