“Paratexts of the Bible” is an ongoing project, based at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. In the database, the bulk of the descriptions of gospel books originate from the ParaTexBib project (Paratexts of the Bible. Analysis and Edition of the Greek Textual Transmission), funded by an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council (ERC Grant No. 339256). From 2015 to 2020 several hundred manuscripts were analyzed in order to obtain a complete overview of paratexts to the gospels. The descriptions also serve as the basis of a critical edition for a portion of them.

In addition, a software tool was developed to visualize the structure of manuscripts (StruViMan, Structural Visualization of Medieval Manuscripts). This was funded by a Proof of Concept Grant of the ERC (2017-2018, Grant No. 737621). The tool is integrated into the present public user interface. It can be used when displaying the content information of manuscripts.

In 2019 a new project began with the purpose to record the paratexts of the Apocalypse of John (ParaTexApoc). This project is in collaboration with the Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal (Institut für Septuaginta- und biblische Textforschung). It is funded by the Fritz Thyssen Stiftung für Wissenschaftsförderung. Hence, a growing number of manuscripts containing the Apocalypse is becoming accessible in the database.

The most important partners for “Paratexts of the Bible” are Pinakes (run by the Section grecque of the IRHT, Paris) and the New Testament Virtual Manuscript Room (NTVMR, run by the Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung, Münster).

Other significant partners include:

• Septuaginta-Unternehmen (Editio critica maior of the Greek Psalter and Robert-Hanhart-Stiftung), Göttingen
• Institute for Textual Scholarship and Electronic Editing, Birmingham
• Die alexandrinische und antiochenische Bibelexegese in der Spätantike (project of the Academy of Sciences and Humanities), Berlin
• Database of Byzantine Book Epigrams (DBBE), Ghent
• Biblia Arabica, Munich
• Titles of the New Testament, Glasgow