Manuscript Studies
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The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies
Bringing manuscript culture, modern technology and people together.
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Announcements and News
- Check out the newly released list of speakers, program, and abstracts for the 2026 Schoenberg Symposium, Stranger Things, November 12–14, 2026, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts; Free Library of Philadelphia; and Online. Registration is now open!
- SIMS is please to announce that our inaugural SIMS Graduate Student Curatorial Fellowship has been awarded to Shreya Patel, a first-year MA student in History of Art at Penn. Congratulations Shreya!
- SIMS is pleased to welcome Sarah Attia (C'28) as our new SIMS Undergraduate Outreach Intern.
- Register for our upcoming SIMS Online Lecture, The Skin Keeps the Score: DNA Analysis of Medieval Manor Court Rolls (Timothy Stinson, North Carolina State University), Friday, October 16, 2026 12:00–1:30PM EST (via Zoom).
- Join us online for our upcoming SIMS and the Center for Italian Studies Fellow in Italian Manuscript Studies Lecture, The Beastly Analog: How Early Modern Medicine Learned to Think through Animal Life (Mackenzie Cooley, Hamilton College and the 2026–2027 Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies and the Center for Italian Studies Fellow in Italian Manuscript Studies), Thursday, November 5, 2026 5:15–6:30PM EST (Kislak Center, Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, 6th Floor and via Zoom).
- Register for our upcoming SIMS Online Lecture, Using Handwritten Text Recognition for Rich and Abundant Historical Source Collections: The Case of Medieval Italian Financial Records (Laura Morreale, Independent Scholar & 2026-2027 SIMS Visiting Research Fellow), Friday, December 4, 2026 12:00–1:30PM EST (via Zoom).
- SIMS is excited to announce the following Visiting Research Fellows for the 2026–2027 academic year: Anastasia Poliakova (University of Hamburg), Riccardo Montalto (University of Naples “Federico II”), and Gila Prebor (Bar-Ilan University).
- SIMS is excited to announce the 2026–2027 Manuscript Collections as Data Fellow: Laura Morreale (Independent Scholar).
- The Spring 2026 issue (Vol. 11.1) of Manuscript Studies is now available in Diamond-level Open Access via Project Muse, as are all previous issues.
- Get all the latest updates from Digital Scriptorium and subscribe to the DS Mailing List.
- Discover BASIRA, the Books as Symbols in Renaissance Art database, a new digital resource for book history hosted by the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies. Enter the database or visit the project website to learn more.
- Join us every Thursday at 12:00PM Noon EDT / 5pm BST for Coffee with a Codex (via Zoom; registration required).
- Read the latest issue of our newsletter, and subscribe to receive all future monthly updates on our activities.
SIMS Blog Posts
Read about manuscript discoveries, initiatives, and other interesting happenings from SIMS staff.
About
Learn about SIMS, its founders, and its staff
Digital Projects
Initiatives currently underway
Publications
Journal, books, exhibits, and other publications.
Fellowships
Opportunities for students and scholars
Teaching
Making use of our collections and expertise in person and remotely
Event Series
Lectures, workshops, and symposia, virtual and in person
Upcoming Events
List
- Workshop
Select Thursday evenings, 5:00 to 7:00 pm
SIMS Graduate Student Manuscript Skills Workshop
If you are curious about how you can integrate manuscript sources into your own research, join us for a series of free, informal monthly workshops on essential topics in this field, offered by the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (SIMS) at Penn Libraries.
- Vitale II Lab for Book History and Digital Humanities (Rm 623, 6th floor, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library).
Open to Penn Students Only
- Workshop
November 4, 2026
History of Text Technologies: Showdown! Rolls vs. Books
Come learn about what texts work better as rolls, which work better as books, and why.
- 2:00pm - 4:00pm
- Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor
Open to the Public
- Workshop
November 5, 2026
Coffee with a Codex: Islamic Prayer Book
On November 5, curator Dot Porter will be joined by Kelly Tuttle, who will bring out one of our copies of Dalāʼil al-khayrāt... [etc.]. دلائل الخيرات... [إلخ]., a collection of prayers for the Prophet Muḥammad and other devotional materials
- 12:00pm - 12:30pm
- Online
Open to the Public