The Library of Latin Texts (LLT) is a subscription-based database of Latin texts, from antiquity up to the present day. Started in 1991 as the ''Cetedoc Library of Christian Latin Texts'' (CLCLT), it continues to be developed by the ''Centre ‘Traditio Litterarum Occidentalium’'' and is hosted by
Brepols Publishers.
History
In 1991, development of the ''Cetedoc Library of Christian Latin Texts'' (CLCLT) started, with the aim of encompassing the entirety of Christian Latin literature. This digital database, initially released as a
CD-ROM, was produced by the Cetedoc, led by prof.
Paul Tombeur at the
Université catholique de Louvain
The Université catholique de Louvain (also known as the Catholic University of Louvain, the English translation of its French name, and the University of Louvain, its official English name) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It ...
. Since 2001, the activities of Cetedoc have been continued in
Turnhout
Turnhout () is a Belgian municipality and city located in the Flemish province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. In 2021, Turnhout had a total population of 45,874. The total area is . The agglomeration, how ...
, Belgium by the ''Centre ‘Traditio Litterarum Occidentalium’'' (CTLO), still led by Paul Tombeur.
In 2002, it was decided to expand the database's chronological scope beyond medieval and
patristic times, its name was changed to ''Library of Latin Texts''. In 2009, a B series (LLT-B) was added to the original LLT (hence known as LLT-A). The LLT-B's scope was to accelerate the growth of the database by directly adopting the text of existing editions, without the intensive research work that is applied to the texts of the LLT-A. This work includes verifying facts related to the text and correcting errors in the printed edition.
Difference between the LLT and similar databases
Unlike similar initiatives, like ''
Corpus Corporum'' and
The Latin Library, the LLT is not an open-access database. This allows for the adoption of copyrighted editions. In fact, while open-access initiatives have to rely on out-of-copyright, possibly outdated editions, the LLT's policy is to select texts that have "been edited according to best contemporary scholarly practice".
The texts edited in Brepols' ''
Corpus Christianorum The Corpus Christianorum (CC) is a major publishing undertaking of the Belgian publisher Brepols Publishers devoted to patristic and medieval Latin texts.
The principal series are the ''Series Graeca'' (CCSG), ''Series Latina'' (CCSL), and the ' ...
'' series form the core of the LLT, even though numerically, they are outnumbered by texts edited in other publishers' series and, if no modern edition is available, by out-of-copyright editions. Nevertheless, for scholarly purposes, the LLT should be used in conjunction with the printed editions, as the
critical apparatus is not included in the database.
[Crown, Ron W. (2000). Comparing the ''Patrologia Latina'' and the ''CETEDOC Library of Christian Latin Texts'' Databases from a User's Perspective. ''Journal of Religious & Theological Information, 3''(1), 85-109.]
See also
*
Corpus Corporum
*
The Latin Library
*
Database of Latin Dictionaries
References
{{reflist
External links
LLT-A
Library of Latin Texts – Series A (LLT-A)List of available titles
h2>
LLT-B
Library of Latin Texts – Series B (LLT-B)List of available titles
Computing in classical studies
Online databases
Belgian digital libraries
Latin-language literature