Abstract

When the manuscripts held at the Royal Library in Berlin were re-arranged during the head librarianship of Friedrich Wilken (1817–1840), the decision was made to use a system of shelfmarks based on contents, language and format. As a result, the collection of the Manuscripta theologica latina in octavo format comprises mainly religious literature from the ninth to the nineteenth century. The scholarly cataloguing of this material, which frequently cannot be described adequately under the headings of ‘author’ and ‘title’, presented a particular challenge both with regard to the descriptions and the indices. In addition, the manuscripts acquired during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries which will be described in the catalogue, are of very diverse origin. The article presents solutions which had to be found to cope with this very specific situation.