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.
We explore and celebrate the diversity of manuscript traditions from across time periods and geographical areas – Penn’s collections are especially strong with materials from the Middle East and Southeast Asia, but we have plenty from Western Europe as well. We welcome everyone—undergraduate, graduate students, staff and faculty alike—to contribute their insights, share their work, and share the joy of manuscripts. Together, we strive to make the study of manuscripts a joyful and inspiring experience.
Meetings will focus on looking at a variety of manuscripts from Penn’s collections on a theme. Towards the end we’ll have a discussion while we do a creative activity.
In Fall 2025, we’ll meet monthly in September, October, and November. We meet in the Vitale II Lab for Digital Humanities and Book History (Van Pelt 623, in the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts)
Join the MSIG mailing list to receive news and reminders.
The theme for September is Contemplating the Cosmos and will include manuscripts focused on cosmology, astronomy, and astrology.
The theme for October is Scientific Experimentation and will include manuscripts focused on alchemy and related early experimental sciences.
In honor of the 18th Annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age, which is happening the week after, the theme for November is Receiving the Classics and will include manuscripts containing copies, translations, and reinterpretations of classical literature and philosophy.
Previous themes with links to book lists (PDF):
(Blue Beet from Penn LJS 419, fol. 42r, which we looked at in Plants & Animals)
