Manuscripts

Manuscripts are documents written by hand. The Gunnerus Library has original manuscripts written by famous people such as Henrik Wergeland and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, by members of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters, handwritten letters and travel writing. The Dora Library has 97 manuscripts (as at 2015).

Some of the manuscripts have been digitised, with open access to the digital versions via links from Oria.

Search digitised manuscripts vi databas Gunnerus.no

Letters

The collection consists of letters originating from two collections:

• Thorvald Boeck’s collection of letters and autographs has been digitised and is  available online. Thorvald Boecks bok- og manuskriptsamling (Thorvald Boeck’s collection of books and manuscripts (pdf, in Norwegian))
• Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab (DKNVS - ‘The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters’) Collection of Letters. The letters from the first 100 years (1760-1860) are listed in the catalogue ‘DKNVS brevsamling’ (‘DKNVS Collection of Letters’), but are also available in oria. Article on the letters and archives of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters (in Norwegian)

Deeds and fragments

The medieval deeds and fragments are among the oldest artefacts in the Gunnerus Library.

Deeds are generally handwritten agreements between two or more parties, written on parchment or paper. They may concern financial or legal matters such as criminal offences, inheritance or the sale of property.

List of deeds from 1571 to 1668 (pdf, in Norwegian)

Fragments are the (predominantly) medieval remains of destroyed or rebound bookbindings; often reused as structural fillers or covers in post-Reformation books. Some medieval fragments contain neumes – a system of musical notation.

Database of fragments at the University Library in Bergen