explicit while most are still quite succinct.
Over time, as the editorial team examines every manuscript or printed volume in situ,
all descriptions will be upgraded to the current standard.
In the meantime, we shall be extremely grateful for additions and corrections
to our data. These should be sent to Charles B. Faulhaber.

Scope and content

The number of manuscripts described first hand has increased considerably.
The descriptions of those in the Hispanic Society of America have benefited from
Faulhaber's work there. The BNE has also been the object of numerous campaigns
to examine firsthand the almost inexhaustible wealth of its manuscript and
early printed book holdings These campaigns have been supplemented with
information taken from the detailed descriptions in volumes 1-9 of the Inventario general de manuscritos de la Biblioteca Nacional
(1953-70; MSS 1-3026) and from the summary descriptionsin volumes 10-15
(1984-2001; MSS 3027-11.000). The descriptions in the five unpublished
volumes (MSS 11.001-12.981) were provided to us in machine-readable form
thanks to the generous support of Julián Martín Abad and his
staff in the Sala Cervantes, particularly Lourdes Alonso.
In addition, both Gómez Moreno and Faulhaber have systematically
reviewed the BNE's card files.

During the fall of 2006 the same scholars also examined
the manuscript holdings of the Biblioteca Histórica "Marqués de
Valdecilla" of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid as well as those of the
library of the Duchess of Alba in the Palacio de Liria.
Nevertheless, only about 1,000 of BETA's more than 5,700 manuscripts or
copies of printed editions have been examined first-hand by the compilers.

Fortunately, the number of excellent published catalogs of medieval manuscripts
in Spanish libraries has increased dramatically over the last fifteen or
twenty years,