Gemini For Museums: Converting 500-Year-Old Tables Of Contents To Excel Sheets

Researchers using the rare book collections of museums and archives routinely need to transcribe centuries-old table of contents printed in ornate layouts in ancient languages no longer widely read. Recently we needed to transcribe the two tables of contents of the original 1585 Jode picture Bible. Both are engraved in Latin in two very different layouts, one with an elaborate print typeface with embellishments, in a tabular layout with floral borders, and the other in italics and in list format, as seen above. In this case, we needed to transcribe them in their original Latin into an Excel spreadsheet in order to conduct a page-by-page hand survey of a copy of the Jode to confirm that it is absolutely complete. We simply uploaded the two cellphone-photographed images toYou can see the final results below!

OLD TESTAMENT

No. Title fol.
1 Creatio mundi. 8
2 Fratricidium Caini. 3
3 Diluuium. 3
4 Turris Babilonica. 3
5 Abraham. 6
6 Lothus. 4
7 Iacob et Esau. 4
8 Dina filia Iacob. 4
9 Duodecim Patriarchae. 6
10 Ioseph Somniator. 7
11 Moises & Pharao. 8
12 Desertum. 6
13 Balaam. 4
14 Iosue. 10
15 Duodecim Iudices Isra 6
16 Gedeon. 4
17 Iepthe. 4
18 Samson. 3
19 Ruth et boos. 4
20 Dauid et Saul. 4
21 Dauid & Abigael. 4
22 Dauid & Bersabea. 4
23 Dauid & Abselon. 4
24 Salomon. 4
25 Roboam & Ieroboam. 6
26 Helias & Sacer:Baal. 4
27 Helias & Heliseus. 4
28 Regina Athalia. 4
29 Sanacharib. 4
30 Reges Persarum. 10
31 Hester. 4
32 Iob. 4
33 Esdre. 4
34 Tobias. 6
35 Holofernes & Iudit 4
36 Prophetae. 4
37 Susanna. 4
38 Daniel. 6
39 Reges Iudae. 8
40 Iudas Machabeus 8
41 Ionae prophete. 4

NEW TESTAMENT

NEW TESTAMENT
De. Quatuor Euangelistos fo. 4
De. Natiuite Christi fo. 9
De. Rebus gestis in tẽplo Sacharia Symione Circumcisione et puero Jesu inter doctores fo. 4
De. Johãne baptista Christo in deserto et vocatione filiorũ zebedei fo. 4
De. Semine malo fo. 4
De. Miraculis Christi fo. 12
De. seruo bono et malo fo. 6
De Duodecĩ parabolis Christi fo. 12
De. Debitore fo. 4
De Filio prodigo fo. 4
De. Operibus Christi in mõte Tabor Nicodemi Pastore bono puerorũ vocatione et ingressu Christi in Hierusalem fo. 5
De. Conuersis peccatoribus fo. 6
De. Diuersis rebus in tẽplo gestis fo. 9
De. Operibus misericordiæ fo. 8
De. Passione Domini fo. 16
De. Testimonio resurrectionis Christi fo. 6
De. 12 Apostolis fo. 5
De. Apocalipso seu reuelatione Iohanĩs fo. 6
De. Quatuor doctoribus Ecclesiæ. fo. 4