Several sources have been published, and some of the print editions are available online. There are also online editions of various sources (e.g. in the IURA service). It is always preferable to use and quote the most recent critical editions of particular sources. But, how to find out which sources have been edited and where?

When looking for printed or online source editions, one may refer to Internet gateways and online collections of digitised sources, many of which were listed on our FONTES-Hub (External Resources/Repositories). General bibliographic orientation can also be obtained thanks to decent library catalogues or bibliographic databases: the ones that contain much information on legal history (e.g., of the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory), and/or on the Middle Ages (e.g. the Regesta Imperii), and/or that list both paper and online resources (e.g., the Jagiellonian Library Search Engine, ExplorUJ). Registered users of academic libraries may also gain access to some extra services, i.a. academic gateways & bibliographic tools offered by specialised companies, like the EBSCO Discovery Service, JSTOR or BREPOLiS.

Bibliographic information concerning source editions may be also searched for through thematic bibliographies (some of them are being published in specialised journals: a list of legal-historical journals may be found, i.a., here), or handbooks, dictionaries & repertories. Most of those refer to particular countries or groups of countries only. However, even some of the national handbooks contain much of comparative background & pan-European bibliographic apparatus, and there are also overview editions of broader range (e.g. the Handbuch der Quellen und Literatur der neueren europäischen Privatrechtsgeschichte, ed. by Helmut Coing, or the volumes of the Brepols series Typologie des sources du Moyen Age occidental).

Some examples of how to search for published materials: Example 1, Example 2.

Employing conventional source bases becomes particularly important when seeking archival materials from the Middle Ages and early modern period. Each state, and in certain instances, each region within countries, has its own regulations governing the collection, availability, and dissemination of archival materials.

Notably, only a fraction of these archives and catalogues have been made accessible online. Many of those which have been digitised, may be found through the services listed on our FONTES-Hub (External Resources/Repositories).

Manuscripts are listed & described in the catalogues of particular libraries & archives, some of which have been printed, and in broader overview catalogues, concerning particular groups of sources (e.g., Ulrich-Dieter Oppitz, Deutsche Rechtsbücher des Mittelalters...).

Some examples of how to search for particular groups of unpublished sources: here,

Reading the sources of law from the remote past may be sometimes as difficult as reading texts of some extinct civilisations. Even plain quotations of normative sources may appear difficult if one does not know the system (e.g., how the sources of Roman Law or Canon Law were quoted in particular periods and regions). Therefore, on our FONTES-Hub (External Resources/Tools), we have provided some useful links to various services containing tools and aids that would help you read, understand and interprete the sources.

Teaching, learning, and research are getting more and more international, trans-disciplinary, and collaborative nowadays. We hope to provide you useful gateways to research projects, groups, and online community of researchers through respective tabs in our FONTES-Hub (External Resources/OERs, External Resources/Projects, External Resources/Online Community).