Attend Office Hours
Learn more about book history, try out the tools of digital humanities practitioners, and speak with BH+DH partners during our weekly office hours:
- Tuesdays 9:30am-11:30am
- Wednesdays 1pm-3pm
Vitale Lab for Book History and Digital Humanities
Located in the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, the Vitale Lab for Book History and Digital Humanities welcomes scholars of all levels who are working on projects at the intersection of BH+DH, providing space for collaboration and learning, for experimentation and creation. We host two sets of open hours every week, and many workshops that are available to everyone. A collaboration of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies and the Price Lab for Digital Humanities.
Work With Us
The Vitale Lab for Book History and Digital Humanities is located at:
623 Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, 6th floor
Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
Check Out Our Technologies Petting Zoo
Our Text Technologies Petting Zoo includes historical equipment for making text (e.g., typewriters, computers). Visit during Tuesday's office hours to learn more about it with Emily F. Brooks, Associate Director of the Price Lab for Digital Humanities.
View Special Collections
While research visits with special collections should happen in the Kislak Center Reading Room, Vitale II offers support for group and virtual viewing, and personal imaging options. With the help of our staff and equipment, you can display objects in the room, on the large screen with the document camera, on the two side monitors with the ceiling camera, and to virtual audiences via video conferencing. We also provide support for video recordings. Starting in 2026, we will be offering access to a Multispectral Imaging System for Historical Artifacts (MISHA) for experimental use.
To view special collections in the Vitale Lab for Book History and Digital Humanities, email Dot Porter. Once you have scheduled a time, you can request the item using your Aeon research account.
Partner With Us
The Vitale Lab for Book History and Digital Humanities welcomes partnerships with organizations and individuals working at the intersection of BH and DH. Groups can also reserve the space for events and workshops on related topics.
To discuss collaboration or reserve the space, email Dot Porter.
Projects and Programs
Learn about our ongoing events, activities, and working groups that celebrate and explore work at the intersection of libraries, book history, and digital humanities.
Coffee with a Codex
An informal lunch or coffee time to meet virtually with Kislak curators and talk about one of the manuscripts from Penn's collections. Each week we'll feature a different manuscript and the expertise of one of our curators.
Manuscript Studies Interest Group
The Manuscript Studies Interest Group (MSIG) is a regular meeting for people who want to get up close and personal with a variety of handwritten objects.
Manuscript Collections As Data Research Group
A team from the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (SIMS), Cultural Heritage Computing, and Research Data and Digital Scholarship (RDDS) is working to facilitate Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) to transcribe research materials from Penn Libraries’ digitized manuscript collections using AI technologies.
Reimagining Illumination
Reimagining Illumination is a series of workshops designed to interrogate and expand the concept of illumination (i.e., the use of light) in books and manuscripts.
The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies
Bringing manuscript culture, modern technology and people together.
Upcoming Events
Upcoming events hosted by the Vitale Lab for Book History and Digital Humanities. See all Penn Libraries events.
Apr
02
- Workshop
Open to the Public
Coffee with a Codex: Middle English Religious Poems
On April 2, curator Dot Porter will bring out Ms. Codex 196, a collection of three devotional works in metrical verse in Middle English and Latin.
- April 2, 2026
- 12:00pm - 12:30pm
- Online
Apr
09
- Workshop
Open to the Public
Coffee with a Codex: Astronomy in Arabic
On April 9, curator Dot Porter will bring out LJS 478, a collection of astronomical treatises, with a particular focus on the astrolabe.
- April 9, 2026
- 12:00pm - 12:30pm
- Online
Apr
14
- Workshop
Open to the Public
Reimagining Illumination: Getting Creative With Medieval Manuscripts
Christine Kemp and Dot Porter will lead a workshop where we paint 3D figures of marginal characters pulled from our fantastic 13th century Bible, Ms. Codex 724.
- April 14, 2026
- 2:00pm - 4:00pm
- Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center
Apr
15
- Workshop
Open to the Public
Manuscript Studies Interest Group: Emotions
The Manuscript Studies Interest Group (MSIG) is a regular meeting for people who want to get up close and personal with a variety of handwritten objects. In April, we'll look at books on the theme of Emotions.
- April 15, 2026
- 2:00pm - 3:00pm
- Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center
Apr
16
- Workshop
Open to the Public
Coffee with a Codex: Alphabetized Psalms in Hebrew
On April 16 (rescheduled from March 5), Judaica Special Collections Cataloging Librarian Louis Meiselman will bring out CAJS Rar Ms 720, Marcus Hartig's alphabetization of the Hebrew Psalms, in his 1876 manuscript.
- April 16, 2026
- 12:00pm - 12:30pm
- Online
Apr
23
- Workshop
Open to the Public
Coffee with a Codex: Italian Book of Hours
On April 23, Schoenberg Curator of Manuscripts Nick Herman will bring out Ms. Codex 688, a small, delicate book of hours from 16th century Italy.
- April 23, 2026
- 12:00pm - 12:30pm
- Online
Apr
28
- Workshop
Open to the Public
Making [and Remaking] Texts: Past, Present, and Future
On Tuesday, April 28, from 2-4pm, come and look at some of the manuscripts held at Penn that have been cut up, remixed, rewritten, and rebound. Hear Penn experts discuss these texts, including an overview of the materials and practices through which manuscripts were made initially. Then, take a pair of scissors and cut your own from paper print-outs drawn from the OPenn repository.
- April 28, 2026
- 2:00pm - 4:00pm
- Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor
Apr
30
- Workshop
Open to the Public
Coffee with a Codex: Franciscan miscellany
On April 30, curator Dot Porter will bring out Ms. Codex 869, a collection of treatises, bullae, and regulations of Franciscan interest, including works of Saint Augustine, Saint Bonaventure, and Saint Bernard and bullae of Eugene IV and Nicholas IV.
- April 30, 2026
- 12:00pm - 12:30pm
- Online
May
01
- Exhibit
Open to the Public
Reimagining Illumination: A Celebratory Exhibit for Reading Days
On Friday, May 1, we invite you to celebrate the culmination of Reimagining Illumination with an open, drop-in exhibition! Under the gentle illumination of electric candles, we'll display manuscripts and artist's books from Penn's collections, along with creations made by workshop attendees over the course of the year. Everyone is welcome!
- May 1, 2026
- 4:00pm - 5:30pm
- Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor
May
07
- Workshop
Open to the Public
Coffee with a Codex: Canon Law in Verse
On May 7, curator Dot Porter will bring out Ms. Codex 741, a verse summary of Raymond of Peñaforte's Summa de poenitentia et matrimonio; canon law on marriage, simony, usury, luxury, bigamy, etc., with a brief Bible dictionary, arranged in canonical order, not in alphabetical order.
- May 7, 2026
- 12:00pm - 12:30pm
- Online
May
14
- Workshop
Open to the Public
Coffee with a Codex: An Exciting NEW Acquisition!
On May 14, curator Dot Porter will be joined by Schoenberg Curator of Manuscripts Nicholas Herman to show you a very special and exciting new acquisition! What is it? We can't tell you, but we can promise that no matter what kind of manuscripts you're interested in, you will want to see this!
- May 14, 2026
- 12:00pm - 12:30pm
- Online
