HMML

“The Teacher,” an etching by Ben-Zion. (AAP3621)

Thank you.

We are immensely grateful for the partnerships, friendships, supporters, colleagues, mentors, readers, and scholars who are champions of HMML and of manuscript preservation and access. Thank you for your dedication and kindness. We are so glad to work alongside you.

A manuscript calling apart.

Fragile, at-risk manuscripts can be safely viewed online in HMML Reading Room (vhmml.org). Celebrate HMML’s 60th by supporting the $25,000 match—and help preserve knowledge for generations to come.

Preserve the past: hmml.org/give

HMML digitization studio in Ethiopia. Learn more: https://hmml.org/about/global-operations/ethiopia/

HMML digitization studio in Iraq. Learn more: https://hmml.org/about/global-operations/iraq/

HMML digitization studio in Malta. Learn more: https://hmml.org/about/global-operations/malta/

HMML digitization studio in Nepal. Learn more: https://hmml.org/about/global-operations/nepal/

In Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America, HMML partners worldwide are safeguarding humanity’s handwritten heritage.

Celebrate 60 years of global preservation—and double your impact through the $25,000 match.

Join the match: hmml.org/give

Thank you!

Dr. Daniel K. Gullo, director of HMML's Malta Study Center, presented recently at a Disaster Management and Climate Change in Archives workshop sponsored by The National Archives of Malta, co-financed by the EU.

Learn more about the Malta collections photographed by HMML: hmml.org/collections/malta

HMML Reading Room's advanced search display.

HMML Reading Room (vhmml.org) is free because others gave.

Celebrate HMML’s 60th by joining the $25,000 match—your first or increased gift will be matched. Help keep knowledge open to the world.

Make it count: hmml.org/give

Hello! Could @visithmml.bsky.social be added to the #history feed? Thanks for considering!

#BookHistory #BookSky #History #Manuscripts #Ethiopic #Textiles #Libraries #Reading #Digitization #Cataloging #OpenAccess

Veiling the Holy: Textiles in Ethiopic Manuscripts “Textiles play a vibrant role in the churches of Ethiopia and Eritrea...”

Textiles play a vibrant role in the churches of Ethiopia and Eritrea, and Ethiopic literature often refers to the varied uses. Dr. Jeremy R. Brown, cataloger of Ethiopic manuscripts at HMML, shares some examples: hmml.org/stories/series-textiles-veiling-the-holy-textiles-in-ethiopic-manuscripts

Dr. Jeremy R. Brown, cataloger of Ethiopic manuscripts at HMML, will be presenting at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, on Monday, November 24, 9:30-10:00am.

#AARSBL25 #EthiopicBible #Ethiopic #Manuscripts #Presentations #History #Literature #Bibles

A 9th- or 10th-century Gospel written in Erkatʻagir (“iron script”), includes a colophon dated 1428 CE (877 AC), noting its rebinding at the Monastery of Argelan (Van)—a tangible link to medieval Armenian scribal networks and rich Christian life in the Lake Van region. (ACC 00164)

Digitization & cataloging is complete for the manuscript collection of the #Armenian Catholicossate of Great House of Cilicia in Anṭilyās, #Lebanon. These 239 books form a comprehensive record of Armenian intellectual, artistic, & liturgical life from the 9th–19th centuries: https://bit.ly/4hSzPrA

For 60 years, HMML has protected the world’s handwritten memory and made it freely accessible to all. Celebrate this milestone by joining HMML's 60th giving match: new donations and the increased portion of renewed gifts will be matched—up to $25,000.

Make a gift today: hmml.org/give

Global Operations HMML Global Operations sites

🎊 Thank you for helping us reach 5,000 Bluesky followers!

For anyone new to HMML, this page is a great overview of some of the countries where HMML has partnered with libraries to photograph manuscript collections for free online access: hmml.org/about/global...

Postscript -- A Teaching License “A unique aspect of HMML Reading Room is that it allows us to see how texts travel among disparate people, places, and cultures...”

A note in a #manuscript transports us to the study sessions of teacher and pupil, meeting face to face, in the cosmopolitan environment of Medina centuries before talk of globalization. Learn more in this story from Dr. Ali Diakite and Dr. Paul Naylor: hmml.org/stories/postscript-a-teaching-license

Digitization & cataloging is complete for the #manuscript collection of the #Syriac Catholic Church, Archdiocese of Mosul, #Iraq, including the archive of the archdiocese from 1859 to 1922 CE (ASCM 00001) and a decree of Sultan Mahmud II (ASCM 00002, pictured).

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3LGUOBz

Virtual Hill Museum & Manuscript Library Resources and Tools for Manuscript Studies

This year, HMML’s Systems department completed improvements to the HMML Data Portal (vhmml.org/dataPortal), reducing the runtime from seven hours to 10 minutes.

Use Data Portal to create & download a custom dataset from HMML Reading Room (vhmml.org), for research or digital humanities projects.

HMML is seeking applicants for the position of "Advancement Data Manager," a full-time, benefits-eligible position. The location is hybrid, requiring three days per week on-site at HMML in Collegeville, Minnesota.

More information: https://bit.ly/43pTU2o

#NowHiring #LibraryJobs #LISjobs #GLAMjobs

HMML is pleased to welcome Whitney Buccicone as our first-ever chief operating officer and to celebrate Dr. Audrey Thorstad's promotion to director of programming.

Learn more: hmml.org/stories/hmml-welcomes-new-coo-congratulates-promoted-director-of-programming/

Reversal of Fates: Access Through Photographs can be a Counterbalance “Cultural losses continue to beset communities around the world, especially in areas subject to armed conflict...”

🧵(3) Learn more in this story by Ted Erho, cataloger of Ethiopic Manuscripts at HMML from 2020 to 2023: hmml.org/stories/reversal-of-fates

#WorldDigitalPreservationDay #WDPD2025 #WhyPreserve

🧵(2) Sometimes, the long-term impact upon a community’s manuscripts can be mitigated.

A photographic copy of a manuscript can preserve the text if the physical object is impaired. It can provide a record of ownership if the object is removed. And it can provide access if a community is displaced.

🧵(1) Why do we preserve photographic images of manuscripts?

Cultural losses continue to beset communities around the world, especially in areas subject to armed conflict. The loss can manifest in multiple ways: destruction and damage, dispossession, the displacement of individuals, and other forms.

Digitization of large manuscripts at the State Archive of Florence, Italy.

🧵(4) Creative photography solutions are key when digitizing such surprises.

Learn more about the manuscripts and artwork digitized by the Malta Study Center: hmml.org/collections/malta

A document that does not seem to have an end...containing a remarkable printed genealogy composed of multiple sheets. Priory of Pisa, Italy.

🧵(3) On another day, Daniel K. Gullo (director of HMML's Malta Study Center) and field staff were considering how to photograph of a volume of loose papers. They began to unfold a document that did not seem to have an end...and found a remarkable printed genealogy composed of multiple sheets.

In archives of the Priory of Pisa of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, the 19th-century inventory says "one volume," and when you see it in person, you notice that one becomes many.

🧵(2) In the archives of the Priory of Pisa of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, the 19th-century inventory says "one volume," and when you see it in person, you notice that one becomes many.

In the archives of the Priory of Pisa of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, the 19th-century inventory says "one volume," and when you see it in person, you notice that one becomes many.

🧵(1) It's one thing to read an inventory and another to see the objects in person.

A few surprises were uncovered in a recent site visit to the digitization studio operated by HMML's Malta Study Center at the State Archive of Florence, Italy.

HMML photographed this manuscript at Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, in the 1980s (microfilm 43351), and it has since been digitized in color (Hs. 1133), image provided by Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg im Breisgau. Details: https://www.vhmml.org/readingRoom/view/75505

Detail of an early 14th-century Dominican gradual with music for "Gaudeamus omnes in Domino," an introit for All Saints' Day. Learn more: vhmml.org/readingRoom/view/75505

A contemporary recording of the music can be heard from École grégorienne: youtu.be/LY_mUWD3xsA?si=hB32k0IpdvoqqOPY

Stanley Morison with Beatrice Warde’s cat, Smoky. An inscription on the print, from Beatrice Warde, reads: "There are so few smiling pictures of SM that I thought you'd like to have this snapshot, taken while my cat Smoky was singing with rage at being picked up." View in HMML Museum (AAP1224): vhmml.org/museum/view/5705 This photograph is in Arca Artium, a collection of reference materials and 8,500+ works of art—focusing on the graphic arts, liturgical art, monasticism in art, printing, and more—located at Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota. Learn more: hmml.org/collections/art

For National Cat Day in the U.S., we share the enthusiasm of Stanley Morison (pictured), the British typographer, scholar, & historian well known for his design of Times New Roman.

The photographer was Beatrice Warde, a scholar of #typography, teacher, & writer.

(AAP1224): https://bit.ly/3WEyScR

"Still Life," a #lithograph by Wanda Gág (1893–1946).

Collection of Saint John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota. View this and other works by #Gág in HMML Museum (AAP0715): vhmml.org/museum/view/57

On November 2, Dr. Sheila Barker takes us to Baroque Italy, where Artemisia Gentileschi—one of the most celebrated women painters of 17th-century Europe—measured her genius against the towering legacy of Michelangelo.

This free, in-person lecture will be recorded. RSVP: hmml.org/programs/events

HMML is seeking applicants for the position of "Advancement Data Manager," a full-time, benefits-eligible position. The location is hybrid, requiring three days per week on-site at HMML in Collegeville, Minnesota.

More information: https://bit.ly/43pTU2o

#NowHiring #LibraryJobs #LISjobs #GLAMjobs