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Upcoming Events: The Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age

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Jun 11
  • Workshop
Open to the Public

Coffee with a Codex: Astronomy Manuscript in Rochester, NY

On June 11, curator Dot Porter will be attending a workshop at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY. While there, she will visit the Cary Graphic Arts Collection and bring out their 15th c. copy of Sacrobosco’s De sphaera mundi (On the Sphere of the World).

  • June 11, 2026
  • 12:00pm - 12:30pm
  • Online
Photo of a manuscript page
Jun 18
  • Workshop
Open to the Public

Coffee with a Codex: Two Illuminated Jewish Marriage Contracts

On June 18, curator Dot Porter will be joined by Judaica Special Collections Cataloging Librarian Louis Meiselman, who will show us two illuminated ketubahs, or Jewish marriage contracts.

  • June 18, 2026
  • 12:00pm - 12:30pm
  • Online
photo of an illuminated ketubah
Jun 25
  • Workshop
Open to the Public

Coffee with a Codex: Penitential Psalms in French

On June 25, curator Dot Porter will bring out Ms. Codex 1564, a copy of the Penitential Psalms in French, written in France in the 17th century.

  • June 25, 2026
  • 12:00pm - 12:30pm
  • Online
Photo of a page from a manuscript
Jul 02
  • Workshop
Open to the Public

Coffee with a Codex: Treatise on Weight in Arabic

On July 2, curator Dot Porter will bring out LJS 386, substantial sections from an illustrated treatise on the measurement of weight, with a historical introduction to theories of gravity and weighing in Greek and Arabic science.

  • July 2, 2026
  • 12:00pm - 12:30pm
  • Online
Illustration of a diagram from an Arabic treatise
Nov 12 - 14
  • Symposium
Open to the Public

Stranger Things

This year’s topic interrogates the multi-angled intersections of magic, science, religion, and ritual in the pre- and early modern world, especially as manifested in manuscript books, documents, and other inscribed surfaces variously expressed in words, images, diagrams, and annotations.

  • November 12-14, 2026
  • Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts; Free Library of Philadelphia & Online
Circular diagram in red and blue ink with interlocking star-shaped patterns inscribed with text and symbols.

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