Manuscript Studies Collection

The University of Pennsylvania Libraries are home to the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (SIMS), a world-leading research center for the study of the hand-written document before the age of print. SIMS promotes the study of manuscripts in a global and digital context. In the words of the institute's mission statement:

Guided by the vision of its founder, Lawrence J. Schoenberg, the mission of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies at Penn Libraries is to bring manuscript culture, modern technology and people together to bring access to and understanding of our intellectual heritage locally and around the world.

SIMS engages in a large number of projects and programs at Penn and beyond, details of which can be found on the institute's website.

SIMS also publishes a twice-annual peer-reviewed journal, Manuscript Studies, which is available in print and online via Project Muse (paid institutional subscription) and Scholarly Commons (open-access, with a one-year moving wall).

The pre-modern manuscript holdings of Penn Libraries consist of two major collections, both of which are housed and available for consultation at the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts: ms. codices, acquired over time as part of the general special collections holdings, and the Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection (LJS), donated to Penn Libraries in 2013. Both collections are fully digitized and can be browsed on the Colenda platform. Open-access metadata and full-resolution digital images can found via the OPenn repository.

Another resource available to researchers is the Lawrence J. Schoenberg collection of auction catalogs, including Christie's catalogs (finding aid here) and Sotheby's catalogs (finding aid here).