Reading period access: From December 10 to 19, access to the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center and the Fisher Fine Arts Library will be limited to PennCard holders and other Penn affiliates. Find more information.

 

Barbara and Larry smiling at camera

Established in 2007, the Lawrence J. Schoenberg & Barbara Brizdle Manuscript Initiative represents gifts both financial and material. It is the brainchild of Larry Schoenberg, C'53, WG'56, a private collector of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts.

The initiative is challenge-driven, with the Schoenbergs offering matching funds for the acquisition of manuscripts, preferably produced before 1601. In 2010 the Schoenbergs entered into an agreement with the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania to donate their important and research-rich collection of manuscripts. The collection comprises mostly secular texts relating to the history of science and technology. Both Larry and Barbara have served on the Penn Libraries Board of Advisors. They are the patrons behind the Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text and Image (SCETI), as well as co-founders of the annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age.