Unknown 17th and 18th century manuscripts of Slovenian literature: information-technology aided register, scholarly editions and analyses

The number, location and nature of preserved but unpublished Slovenian-language manuscripts from the 17th and 18th centuries are still unknown. Although included in a number of works on Slovenian literary and general history, these aspects have always been given a sketchy treatment, serving merely to illustrate the general outlines of the nation’s literary and cultural development. The subject has never been systematically researched; with the exception of Kidrič’s article (cf. 15.3), no register has been made of the Slovenian-language manuscripts belonging to this period. Even some of those entered on the record of Slovenian literary history, e.g. the comprehensive Skalar manuscript from 1643, have remained unpublished and relatively unknown despite their importance. The same applies to the manuscripts of Slovenian literature in a broader sense, i.e. to largely unknown official texts including oaths, bequests, announcements, etc. A large share of this material has only come to light in the recent years, suggesting the possibility of still new discoveries. Thus we propose to do the following:

• Systematically collect the data on Slovenian-language manuscripts from the 17th, 18th, and sometimes early 19th centuries, preserved in the collections of Slovenian and other institutions, and produce a digitised manuscript register, open to the addition of new discoveries.
• Publish a selection of representative, hitherto unpublished texts in scholarly digital editions.
• Analyse the above-mentioned texts from the aspects of literary history and theory, as well as of Slovenian linguistic, cultural, and general history.

The recording, analysis, publication, and transmission of manuscripts belonging to this period will be based on modern information technologies and their application to the humanities (cf. 15.2, Section II.). The high-performance, user-friendly electronic tools developed in the course of the project will be freely accessible on the Internet, thus enabling other interested scholars to join in the further examination and publication of manuscripts.
Given that only a few books were published in Slovenian language