BnL publishes manuscript transcribed with AI technology for the first time New digitised content on eluxemburgensia.lu

The National Library of Luxembourg announces the digitisation and text recognition (Optical Character Recognition) of the three-part manuscript Myn wedervaren (My experiences, i.e. autobiography) by the Luxembourger Louis Joseph Zelle (8 June 1826 - 5 August 1899). The manuscript is now available free of charge on eluxemburgensia.lu.

This manuscript occupies a special place in the extensive literature on soldiers and officers of the Dutch colonial army. It is not only detailed and written from the perspective of an officer, but also provides a critical perspective on the Dutch colonial period. In addition, Zelle’s memoirs are an important source for the cultural life of Luxembourg in the 19^th century.

AI-supported transcription

While the BnL generally carries out text recognition for printed materials such as journals and books, this is far more complex for handwritten works and is therefore not common practice. The Zelle manuscript digitised by the BnL was converted into digital text for the first time using the AI-supported programme Transkribus. Transkribus uses machine learning to recognise handwritten texts. This technology makes it possible not only to digitise historical manuscripts, but also to transcribe them, making the documents more accessible and usable for the public. In addition, a full-text search in the document is also made possible.

By using Transkribus, the BnL was able to ensure that Louis Joseph Zelle’s texts were deciphered with a high degree of accuracy. The programme continuously learns from the corrections made by experts, thereby improving its recognition rate for specific handwriting and historical writing styles.

Jeff Schmitz, seconded German teacher (2022-2023), tested a Transkribus text recognition model and then carried out the handwritten text recognition including corrections. In addition to this philological work, employees from IT and the cataloguing department were involved in the implementation.

Joseph Louis Zelle

Louis Joseph Zelle enlisted in 1848 in Echternach for six years in the Luxembourg Chasseurs Battalion. In 1854, he decided to join the KNIL, the Dutch colonial army, where he served for 26 years in the Dutch Indies, now Indonesia. After becoming a Dutch citizen, Zelle rose through the military hierarchy to the officer ranks. He was promoted several times during his career and reached the rank of captain. His transfers and military expeditions took him to the remotest regions of the Malay Archipelago. In 1880, Zelle was honourably discharged from the army and returned to Luxembourg, where he died of a stroke in 1899.

Zelle was one of over a thousand Luxembourgers who served in the Dutch colonial army between the French Revolution and the First World War. However, he is one of the few officers to give a detailed account of his experiences. After his return to Luxembourg, Zelle began writing his three-volume autobiography Myn wedervaren, mostly in Dutch, which he worked on for around five and a half years. In this work, Zelle shows himself to be a chronicler with a love of detail who embeds his life in the general events of the time. Both levels are not only depicted, but also commented on and often critically reflected upon.