On Wednesday 12 July 2017, the Bibliothèque nationale de Luxembourg (BnL) presented, in the framework of a public conference, the catalogue of medieval Latin manuscripts of Orval.

The purpose of the catalogue “Orvaler Handschriften bis zum Jahr 1628 in den Beständen”, which was presented in the presence of Luxembourg Secretary of State for Culture Guy Arendt, is the scientific description of 76 complete manuscripts, dateable from the 9th to the 17th century. These were part of the library of the former Cistercian abbey of Orval.

The work consists of two volumes. Volume One, richly illustrated, gives a complete insight into the history of the scriptorium and the Orval library from the founding of the abbey at the turn of the 12th century to Its suppression in 1796. Volume Two constitutes the body of the catalogue and is addressed especially to specialists in the matter.

The catalogue is the second (out of three planned) of the “Die Handschriften des Großherzogtums Luxemburg” collection, launched with the catalogue of manuscripts of the former Benedictine Abbey of Echternach. This long-term scientific work is above all the result of the research undertaken by Thomas Falmagne, a PhD in philosophy and letters from the Catholic University of Louvain, and engaged expert with the BnL.

The BnL has already begun writing the third volume of the collection, which will be dedicated to "small provenances and unknown provenances". The latter will contain, among other things, the description of the famous Codex Mariendalensis which the Luxembourg State acquired in 2009 and which has since become part of the BnL's collections.

In his speech, State Secretary of Culture Guy Arendt pointed out that a scientific library such as the BnL does not merely preserve and collect heritage documents, but that its mission of valorisation also involves extensive work of scientific research aimed at bringing to light these testimonies of the past and reviving them thanks to the subsequent research that these catalogues clarify and support.

The first volume of the catalogue is currently on sale at the publisher Harrassowitz Verlag or at the reception of the BnL for €48. Volumes One and Two together are available for €178.

Photo by BnL: Thomas Falmagne, author of the Catalogue of Medieval Manuscripts of Orval.