The SDBM continuously aggregates and updates historic observations of pre-modern manuscripts drawn from over 14,000 auction and sales catalogs, inventories, catalogs from institutional and private collections, and other sources that document the sales and locations of these books from around the world.
In its own words: https://sdbm.library.upenn.edu/, read 2026-10-29
| What receives provenance | an observation of a pre-modern manuscript in a catalogue, inventory or other source |
| Relations carried | sale; location; ownership |
| Carrier | observation records with a VIAF-based name authority |
| Expresses · records · tests | expressesrecordstests |
| Operations tested | none |
| What survived | not tested |
op the operator's own statement · 3p a third-party account · obs our observation · rd our reading. Hover a tag for its quote; each opens below with its source.
| Canonical name | Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts |
| Also known as | SDBM |
| Address | https://sdbm.library.upenn.edu/ |
| Operator | Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, University of Pennsylvania |
| Kind | database |
| Unit | an observation (an entry in a source that documents a manuscript) op |
| Lifecycle | active |
| Count | over 14,000 auction and sales catalogs, inventories and other sources; 240,000 records (MMM white paper) (as of 2026-10-29 (home page); white paper) op |
| Intake | continuous; registered users contribute observations and batch uploads |
| Data access | search, download, SPARQL endpoint |
| Licence | CC BY-SA 4.0 for downloaded search results op |
| Observation | 2026-10-29: read |
9a0fdf8805bd970a…9a0fdf8805bd970a…1e28a0193aa6342b…1e28a0193aa6342b…9a0fdf8805bd970a…1e28a0193aa6342b…Lee Sharks, ed. "Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts." Provenance meta-aggregator, Provenance Erasure, compiled 2026-10-29. https://www.provenanceerasure.org/aggregators/schoenberg-database
Record https://www.provenanceerasure.org/aggregators/schoenberg-database · entity https://www.provenanceerasure.org/aggregators/schoenberg-database#entity · the census as data
@misc{pe-schoenbergdatabase2026,
editor = {Sharks, Lee},
title = {Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts},
howpublished = {Provenance meta-aggregator, Provenance Erasure},
year = {2026},
note = {Compiled 2026-10-29; every field sourced and dated},
url = {https://www.provenanceerasure.org/aggregators/schoenberg-database}
}