Qalamos: Connecting Manuscript Traditions
@qalamos.bsky.social
Account of the DFG Project "Qalamos". #manuscripts #Asia #Africa #catalogs | @stabiberlin.bsky.social | Bayerische Staatsbibliothek | Universität Leipzig | Website: www.qalamos.net | Blog: https://od-portal.hypotheses.org
It seems that #AI can effortlessly generate quite accurate #transcriptions! 🦾 Here Gemini 2.5 Flash converts tricky #romanization standards (like #DIN_31635) back into the original #Arabic_script and other scholarly formats like #LoC. Could save hours of painstaking work!😇
November 13, 2025 at 2:29 PM
It seems that #AI can effortlessly generate quite accurate #transcriptions! 🦾 Here Gemini 2.5 Flash converts tricky #romanization standards (like #DIN_31635) back into the original #Arabic_script and other scholarly formats like #LoC. Could save hours of painstaking work!😇
An interesting discovery: A manuscript (shelfmark Chambers 821 b) in #Qalamos that served as an English-Bengali dictionary or glossary, in which not only the Bengali words in the right column are written in Bengali script, but also the English terms in the left. .../1
November 5, 2025 at 9:04 AM
An interesting discovery: A manuscript (shelfmark Chambers 821 b) in #Qalamos that served as an English-Bengali dictionary or glossary, in which not only the Bengali words in the right column are written in Bengali script, but also the English terms in the left. .../1
October 30, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Team #Qalamos sends their best #Halloween wishes with the most impressive demons from South Asian (shelfmark Hs or 1931) and Middle Eastern manuscripts (shelfmark Ms or fol 4103). 🧛♀️👻👺💀 🎃
@stabiberlin.bsky.social
@stabiberlin.bsky.social
October 30, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Team #Qalamos sends their best #Halloween wishes with the most impressive demons from South Asian (shelfmark Hs or 1931) and Middle Eastern manuscripts (shelfmark Ms or fol 4103). 🧛♀️👻👺💀 🎃
@stabiberlin.bsky.social
@stabiberlin.bsky.social
....and in response, a dragon from a manuscript of Museum Fünf Kontinente München (shelfmark 77-11-287), which can be found in #Qalamos: "A dragon's fight with djinns and peris" qalamos.net/receive/DEMU...
October 24, 2025 at 12:15 PM
....and in response, a dragon from a manuscript of Museum Fünf Kontinente München (shelfmark 77-11-287), which can be found in #Qalamos: "A dragon's fight with djinns and peris" qalamos.net/receive/DEMU...
Photo: Folio 1 from Abhinavagupta's Tantrāloka with Jayaratha's commentary; Āhnika 1.
qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
October 17, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Photo: Folio 1 from Abhinavagupta's Tantrāloka with Jayaratha's commentary; Āhnika 1.
qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
Fascinating event!😱
With its agent module called #name_authority, #Qalamos provides i.a. data on authors, copyist etc. and their relationship with books, places, institutions & other agents—functioning also as a platform for obtaining data for #historical_network_analysis!
#digital_humanities
#DH
With its agent module called #name_authority, #Qalamos provides i.a. data on authors, copyist etc. and their relationship with books, places, institutions & other agents—functioning also as a platform for obtaining data for #historical_network_analysis!
#digital_humanities
#DH
September 25, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Fascinating event!😱
With its agent module called #name_authority, #Qalamos provides i.a. data on authors, copyist etc. and their relationship with books, places, institutions & other agents—functioning also as a platform for obtaining data for #historical_network_analysis!
#digital_humanities
#DH
With its agent module called #name_authority, #Qalamos provides i.a. data on authors, copyist etc. and their relationship with books, places, institutions & other agents—functioning also as a platform for obtaining data for #historical_network_analysis!
#digital_humanities
#DH
.... Unfortunately, there are still few digitised copies of the Indian manuscripts in #Qalamos, but we hope that this will change. The #Qalamos team wishes everyone a Happy Navarātri!
The miniature shows the goddess Saravatī in the manuscript Ms. or. fol. 2897 on her vahana, the peacock.
The miniature shows the goddess Saravatī in the manuscript Ms. or. fol. 2897 on her vahana, the peacock.
September 23, 2025 at 12:59 PM
the descriptions of which can be found in Qalamos under the following links:
Link to images above: www.qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
Link to images below:
www.qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
Link to images above: www.qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
Link to images below:
www.qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
September 9, 2025 at 1:11 PM
the descriptions of which can be found in Qalamos under the following links:
Link to images above: www.qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
Link to images below:
www.qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
Link to images above: www.qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
Link to images below:
www.qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
The #Qalamos metadata includes not only those of MSS, but also of bindings and fragments. Such artefacts from the Max Freiherr von Oppenheim Foundation are currently being recorded, and a digital copy will be provided later. See the images below of two such fragments,
September 9, 2025 at 1:11 PM
The #Qalamos metadata includes not only those of MSS, but also of bindings and fragments. Such artefacts from the Max Freiherr von Oppenheim Foundation are currently being recorded, and a digital copy will be provided later. See the images below of two such fragments,
His birthday is celebrated throughout India (and elsewhere in the world), but especially in Southern India and Maharashtra. At the end of the festival and as a concluding rite, the mūrtis/idols of Gaṇeśa used in the procession are immersed in holy waters (Visarjana).
August 27, 2025 at 9:37 AM
His birthday is celebrated throughout India (and elsewhere in the world), but especially in Southern India and Maharashtra. At the end of the festival and as a concluding rite, the mūrtis/idols of Gaṇeśa used in the procession are immersed in holy waters (Visarjana).
The #Qalamos team wishes everyone a Happy Gaṇeśa Caturthī with this beautiful miniature from the manuscript scroll Ms. or. oct. 158. Śrī Gaṇeśa (or Gaṇapati), son of Śiva and Pārvatī, is considered as the God of wisdom and remover of obstacles, and in earlier times as the guardian of the threshold.
August 27, 2025 at 9:37 AM
The #Qalamos team wishes everyone a Happy Gaṇeśa Caturthī with this beautiful miniature from the manuscript scroll Ms. or. oct. 158. Śrī Gaṇeśa (or Gaṇapati), son of Śiva and Pārvatī, is considered as the God of wisdom and remover of obstacles, and in earlier times as the guardian of the threshold.
The stamp on the other bundle of papers reads 'Shaik Ahmed Shaik Dawud 1886', referring to a businessman from India, presumably for whom the paper was produced in England or Bengal. Link to ms. entry with more details on the watermarks:
mymssportal.dl.uni-leipzig.de/receive/DE1B...
mymssportal.dl.uni-leipzig.de/receive/DE1B...
August 20, 2025 at 9:09 AM
The stamp on the other bundle of papers reads 'Shaik Ahmed Shaik Dawud 1886', referring to a businessman from India, presumably for whom the paper was produced in England or Bengal. Link to ms. entry with more details on the watermarks:
mymssportal.dl.uni-leipzig.de/receive/DE1B...
mymssportal.dl.uni-leipzig.de/receive/DE1B...
Another example of the importance of studying the materiality of mss.: Here are pictures of the watermarks on the paper of a ms. produced at the end of the 19th cent. This image reveals that the paper came from the Tatari paper manufacturer Protasev: "Татаровской фабрике Протасьева No. 6".
August 20, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Another example of the importance of studying the materiality of mss.: Here are pictures of the watermarks on the paper of a ms. produced at the end of the 19th cent. This image reveals that the paper came from the Tatari paper manufacturer Protasev: "Татаровской фабрике Протасьева No. 6".
#Qalamos, @stabiberlin.bsky.social: For today's Assumption of Mary, an Ethiopian manuscript (Ms. or. oct. 59 - 8) in Ge'ez (Old Ethiopian) with a long prayer of petition, supplication, and praise to Mary. The detailed information on its provenance is also interesting: qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
August 15, 2025 at 2:54 PM
#Qalamos, @stabiberlin.bsky.social: For today's Assumption of Mary, an Ethiopian manuscript (Ms. or. oct. 59 - 8) in Ge'ez (Old Ethiopian) with a long prayer of petition, supplication, and praise to Mary. The detailed information on its provenance is also interesting: qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
In Asia, however, while China is credited with inventing papermaking, there was apparently no tradition of creating watermarks, so one could assume European influence here.
August 8, 2025 at 9:17 AM
In Asia, however, while China is credited with inventing papermaking, there was apparently no tradition of creating watermarks, so one could assume European influence here.
The photo below shows an Indian watermark "Kashmir State" in a Kashmiri manuscript (Hs or 11120, 1910). The first watermarks in Europe date back to the Middle Ages, and the technique subsequently spread throughout Europe.
August 8, 2025 at 9:17 AM
The photo below shows an Indian watermark "Kashmir State" in a Kashmiri manuscript (Hs or 11120, 1910). The first watermarks in Europe date back to the Middle Ages, and the technique subsequently spread throughout Europe.
Last Tuesday, members of the #Qamalos team took part in a workshop on Dino-Lite hand microscope organised by Dr Andreas Janke of @stabiberlin.bsky.social. Dino-Lite is a tool used for studying materials, including manuscripts. As a handheld microscope, it has switchable UV and IR illumination ...
August 7, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Last Tuesday, members of the #Qamalos team took part in a workshop on Dino-Lite hand microscope organised by Dr Andreas Janke of @stabiberlin.bsky.social. Dino-Lite is a tool used for studying materials, including manuscripts. As a handheld microscope, it has switchable UV and IR illumination ...
Some amusing graffiti that we recently saw on the margins of the "Hs. Opp. or. 523", most probably drawn by the same person in the 19th or early 20th century. The context in which they were produced is unclear, but the "artist" must have been a young adult.😄
July 31, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Some amusing graffiti that we recently saw on the margins of the "Hs. Opp. or. 523", most probably drawn by the same person in the 19th or early 20th century. The context in which they were produced is unclear, but the "artist" must have been a young adult.😄
War destroys people, cities, and countries; it also destroys supposedly safely stored art treasures and manuscripts. In the metadata of #Qalamos, these manuscripts are marked as "war loss."
July 30, 2025 at 1:49 PM
War destroys people, cities, and countries; it also destroys supposedly safely stored art treasures and manuscripts. In the metadata of #Qalamos, these manuscripts are marked as "war loss."
#Qalamos contains manuscripts from almost every area of daily life, including metadata of 34 Sanskrit manuscripts (some of them digitised) on love and eroticism - like the following link to a manuscript about lips and kisses:
qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
July 25, 2025 at 10:08 AM
#Qalamos contains manuscripts from almost every area of daily life, including metadata of 34 Sanskrit manuscripts (some of them digitised) on love and eroticism - like the following link to a manuscript about lips and kisses:
qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...
To perform a successful search in #Qalamos, it is essential to use the correct #transcription of at least the keywords in a title or in an author´s name. This is particularly important if the initial search with shelfmark is unsuccessful.
July 23, 2025 at 1:14 PM
To perform a successful search in #Qalamos, it is essential to use the correct #transcription of at least the keywords in a title or in an author´s name. This is particularly important if the initial search with shelfmark is unsuccessful.
Time for quality control, again!👩🔧👨🔧
Since the set-up of #Qalamos, metadata from several larger collections have been imported to this portal. Yet, not all manuscript entries from the imported collections are linked to the book title #authority_files already available in Qalamos.
Since the set-up of #Qalamos, metadata from several larger collections have been imported to this portal. Yet, not all manuscript entries from the imported collections are linked to the book title #authority_files already available in Qalamos.
July 17, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Time for quality control, again!👩🔧👨🔧
Since the set-up of #Qalamos, metadata from several larger collections have been imported to this portal. Yet, not all manuscript entries from the imported collections are linked to the book title #authority_files already available in Qalamos.
Since the set-up of #Qalamos, metadata from several larger collections have been imported to this portal. Yet, not all manuscript entries from the imported collections are linked to the book title #authority_files already available in Qalamos.
In 2023, the Max von Oppenheim Foundation gave its manuscript collection on permanent loan to the Berlin State Library. It is already partly available on #Qalamos. The not yet catalogued manuscripts will be described and the entire collection digitised by 2026. 😃
www.spkmagazin.de/blockbuster-...
www.spkmagazin.de/blockbuster-...
July 16, 2025 at 2:45 PM
In 2023, the Max von Oppenheim Foundation gave its manuscript collection on permanent loan to the Berlin State Library. It is already partly available on #Qalamos. The not yet catalogued manuscripts will be described and the entire collection digitised by 2026. 😃
www.spkmagazin.de/blockbuster-...
www.spkmagazin.de/blockbuster-...