Editorial process
Part of the chronicle ’edited’ and expanded by various scribes (Faustina B IX, f. 60v)
The digital edition, much like the chronicle itself, has been produced collaboratively across a significant period of time. Work began in the early 2000s with the drafting of text intended for the ‘stratigraphic edition’ (as conceptualised in Broun and Harrison, The Chronicle of Melrose Abbey, 2007). After a pause in activities, a change of direction was decided in 2021 towards a digital edition. The project’s work began in 2023, and concluded in 2026 (including an unforeseen hiatus due to the cyber-attack on the British Library in October 2023). The digital edition was published online in July 2026.
Because of the edition’s collaborative and multi-layered nature, some transparency about authorship is necessary. In the transcription and translation, footnotes have been attributed to the relevant editor (whether Dauvit Broun [DB], John Reuben Davies [JRD], or Jo Tucker [JT]), to make the phases of work more apparent. In every case, Tucker was responsible for proof-reading and sometimes updating the text of the original footnotes, and for overall editorial consistency.
The table below identifies the phases of editorial work. It notes how the manuscript was primarily consulted for each phase. An editor’s source can be significant. As an example, in Broun’s early work using the facsimile edition, he noted that ‘There appears to be a deletion point under the e’ at AD 739 archiepiscopus (Faustina B IX, f. 2v). This is in fact a figment of the collotype page in the Anderson’s facsimile edition where part of the ruled line looks darker; it is not visible in the digital image or manuscript itself. Where the digital images or Andersons’ edition was the primary source, the manuscripts themselves were also consulted to check particular issues (such as erasures).
The digital images of the Chronicle used in this edition were photographed at the following times:
- Cotton MS Julius B XIII:
- Main foliated leaves shot 18-19/09/2006
- Binding and flyleaves shot 05/07/2013
- Cotton MS Faustina B IX:
- Main foliated leaves shot variously between 20/09/2006-29/06/2007
- Binding and flyleaves shot 31/10/2013
|
Editorial activity |
Undertaken by |
When the work was undertaken |
How the manuscript was primarily consulted |
|
Faustina B IX, ff. 2r–21r (line 22), transcription and translation of the annals (roughly AD 731–1171), plus most additions to these folios |
Dauvit Broun |
Completed on 25 June 2002 |
Andersons, The Chronicle of Melrose |
|
Faustina B IX, ff. 26v–32r, transcription and translation of the annals (roughly AD 1198–1215), plus most additions to these folios |
Dauvit Broun |
Completed on 10 February 2003 |
Andersons, The Chronicle of Melrose |
|
Faustina B IX, ff. 32v–75v, transcription and translation of the texts and annals (roughly AD 1216–1270s) |
John Reuben Davies |
2011–2013 |
Andersons, The Chronicle of Melrose; images on DVD accompanying Broun and Harrison, The Chronicle of Melrose Abbey |
|
Faustina B IX, ff. 21r (line 23)–26r, transcription and translation of the annals (roughly AD 1171–1197) |
Dauvit Broun |
December 2022–January 2023 |
British Library digital images |
|
Julius B XIII, ff. 41–47, |
Dauvit Broun |
May 2023 |
British Library digital images |
|
Julius B XIII, ff. 2–40, summary of Hugh of St Victor's Chronicle |
Dauvit Broun |
June 2023 |
British Library digital images |
|
Ensuring editorial consistency between the work of Broun and Davies; reconceptualising the structure of the edition; applying the scribal profiles methodology |
Jo Tucker |
January–July 2023 |
British Library digital images |
|
Design of the XML-TEI schema and mark-up of the transcription and translation |
Vivien Williams |
June–November 2023 |
British Library digital images |
|
Supporting the design and implementation of the XML-TEI schema |
Luca Guariento |
June–November 2023 |
British Library digital images |
|
Checking and additional mark-up of the transcription and translation in XML-TEI |
Jo Tucker |
May–July 2025 |
Images on DVD accompanying Broun and Harrison, The Chronicle of Melrose Abbey |
|
Design and implementation of the website and viewer |
Luca Guariento |
June 2025–August 2026 |
N/A |
|
Annotation of the scribal profiles on the digital images |
Jo Tucker |
December 2025–June 2026 |
British Library digital images (supplied November 2025) |
|
Checking and updating the translation of Faustina B IX, ff. 2r–21r and ff. 26v–32r |
Dauvit Broun |
February–June 2026 |
British Library digital images (supplied November 2025) |
|
Final implementation and proof-reading |
Jo Tucker |
June–July 2026 |
N/A |
Author: Jo Tucker
Last updated: 07/06/2026