Vilne Yiddish Handwritten Dataset (HTR, 205 pages)

Version 1.0, 2025-11-13, Sergii Gurbych ([e-mail])

This dataset for Handwritten Text Recognition includes layout segmentation (TextRegions, TextLines, and line polygons) and Unicode transcriptions in PAGE XML for 205 images of handwritten Yiddish texts. The materials originate from autobiographical, epistolary, and historical manuscripts that were created between 1930 and 1940 and are stored in the following institutions: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (New York, published at digipres.cjh.org), the Judaica Research Center of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, and the Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine (Lviv, access to the documents through the digital copies held in the Library of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign).

The dataset was prepared using the open-source eScriptorium platform and Kraken HTR engine. Transcriptions are line-based and manually corrected. The dataset contains 4411 lines and approximately 45,600 words. Each PAGE XML file is accompanied by its corresponding image file in JPG format.

Images included here are publicly accessible via their respective institutions. No explicit reuse restrictions were stated as of November 13, 2025. Their use here is subject to any institutional conditions that may apply. More detailed information about each document is provided in the README.txt file.

This project was funded by the European Union through the Economic Recovery and Resilience Facility NextGenerationEU, under Lithuania’s national plan “New Generation Lithuania,” the funding body is the Central Project Management Agency (CPMA), project CAPADHY, project number: 10-036-T-0005. The project was carried out at the Faculty of History, Vilnius University.

This dataset is free to use for non-commercial purposes under CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0.

版本1.0，2025年11月13日，作者谢尔盖·古尔比奇（[e-mail]）

本数据集用于手写文本识别（Handwritten Text Recognition, HTR），包含布局分割（文本区域、文本行及行多边形）与基于PAGE XML格式的Unicode转录文本，涵盖205幅意第绪语手写文本图像。相关材料为创作于1930年至1940年间的自传体、书信体及历史类手稿，分别收藏于以下机构：犹太研究研究所（YIVO Institute for Jewish Research，纽约，公开网址digipres.cjh.org）、立陶宛马尔蒂纳斯·马日维达斯国家图书馆犹太研究中心，以及乌克兰中央国家历史档案馆（利沃夫，文档访问需通过伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校图书馆所持有的数字副本）。

本数据集依托开源eScriptorium平台与Kraken HTR引擎制作完成。转录文本以行为单位，并经人工校对。数据集总计包含4411条文本行，约45600个单词。每份PAGE XML文件均配有对应的JPG格式图像文件。

本次收录的图像均可通过所属机构公开获取。截至2025年11月13日，未发现明确的再使用限制，但其使用需遵循各机构的相关规定。每份文档的详细信息可参见README.txt文件。

本项目由欧盟通过经济复苏与韧性工具“下一代欧盟”（NextGenerationEU）资助，依据立陶宛国家计划“新一代立陶宛”实施，资助主体为中央项目管理局（Central Project Management Agency, CPMA），项目名称为CAPADHY，项目编号：10-036-T-0005。项目由维尔纽斯大学历史学院执行。

本数据集可在知识共享署名-非商业性使用-相同方式共享4.0（CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0）协议下免费用于非商业用途。