Qalamos: Connecting Manuscript Traditions

Chennai, UV Swaminatha Iyer Library, Palm-leaf manuscript UVSL 5, p. 50, Grantha in l. 3, mid-nineteenth century CE.

Early Tamil poetry, rich with tales about journeys, patrons, and cultural exchange, reveals a vibrant blending of languages. In our PhD Research Series, Maanasa Visweswaran explores how Sanskrit influences and the use of Grantha script shaped these classical Tamil manuscripts:
uhh.de/csmc-viswesw...

My research assistant really wasn’t feeling it so we didn’t spend a lot of time, but I was glad to have gotten to see the Islamic(ate) calligraphy exhibition at the Beinecke. There’s one more week to see it! library.yale.edu/event/taught...

Neue Audiotouren in der Gemäldegalerie und als App Neu in der Gemäldegalerie und in den App-Stores ► Audiotour für Kinder und Highlighttour in 9 Sprachen für Erwachsene mit Meisterwerken der Sammlung

Die #Gemäldegalerie stockt auf für kleine und große Besucher*innen: In einer speziellen Audiotour für Kinder führen Schauspieler*innen Eva Meckbach und Milan Peschel durch die Schätze der Sammlung, während die neue Highlight-Tour für Erwachsene 25 Meisterwerke in den Fokus rückt.

Hörenswert! 👂

Some amusing graffiti that we recently saw on the margins of the "Hs. Opp. or. 523", most probably drawn by the same person in the 19th or early 20th century. The context in which they were produced is unclear, but the "artist" must have been a young adult.😄

#skystorians: do you know more about a possible (and likely) connection between writing ink and rat poison? #bookhistory

For example, a printed edition from 1792 containing the Ṛtusaṃhāra, a poem by the poet Kālidāsa describing the seasons, is lost forever. Its first page even bears the inscription: "This book is the first ever printed in Sanskrit." It must at least have been one of the earliest prints in Sanskrit.

War destroys people, cities, and countries; it also destroys supposedly safely stored art treasures and manuscripts. In the metadata of #Qalamos, these manuscripts are marked as "war loss."

Dharmamitra · a toolkit for the languages of the Dharma A toolkit for the languages of the Dharma

New translation tool for the languages of Buddhism—Pāli, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese.
dharmamitra.org

Still makes mistakes (I just tested it on the 宋高僧傳 biography of the poet-monk Guanxiu 貫休 and noticed a few errors), but 1000x more accurate than anything I've seen before.

Hundreds of medieval medical manuscripts now accessible Over the course of the last three years, the Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries project has been enhancing the discoverability of medieval medical recipes in historic library collections across the ...

Curious Cures completed - really excellent work by a brilliant team @theul.bsky.social led by Dr James Freeman: www.lib.cam.ac.uk/stories/curi...

"Mehmed Tevfîq : das Abenteuer Buadem's"

Mehmed Tevfîq’s anecdote collection Buadem, printed in Istanbul in 1885 and translated into German by Dr. Theodor Menzel, includes an intriguing subchapter on the linguistic peculiarities of #Turkish (late #Ottoman) women.

dx.doi.org/10.25673/119455

On the occasion of tomorrow's Pride Parade in Berlin, we would also like to point out that you can already find a concept of the third gender (in English transcription without diacritical marks: Tritiya Prakriti; including homosexuals, transgenders and intersexed people) in ancient Indian texts.

#Qalamos contains manuscripts from almost every area of daily life, including metadata of 34 Sanskrit manuscripts (some of them digitised) on love and eroticism - like the following link to a manuscript about lips and kisses:
qalamos.net/receive/DE1B...

VuFind® Berlin 2025: What’s in it for us? 🔍 #Einladung zur #Konferenz am 29. & 30. September 2025. Reflektiert mit uns, wie #DiscoverySysteme und insbesondere #VuFind® den sich wandelnden Anforderungen von Einrichtungen, Fachleuten und Nutzenden gerecht werden. Infos & Anmeldung 👉 sbb.berlin/zgaf7

The various transcription systems currently in use present a challenge for librarians and academics, alike. As a library project, we currently use the #DIN_31635 and #LoC (Library of Congress) systems, but also hope to be able to offer the #DMG system later, given its widespread use in academia.

To perform a successful search in #Qalamos, it is essential to use the correct #transcription of at least the keywords in a title or in an author´s name. This is particularly important if the initial search with shelfmark is unsuccessful.

Wartung am Netzwerk im Haus Unter den Linden | Network Maintenance - SBB aktuell Zwischen dem 28. und 31. Juli, jeweils von 8 bis 16 Uhr finden umfangreiche Wartungsarbeiten am Netzwerk im Haus Unter den Linden statt. Während dieser Zeiten sind folgende kurzfristige Einschränkunge...

⚠️Nutzungsinformation⚠️ Vom 28.-31. Juli, 8-16 Uhr, finden Wartungsarbeiten am Netzwerk im Haus #UnterdenLinden statt. Während dieser Zeiten sind kurzfristige Einschränkungen u.a. an den Recherche-PCs möglich. Das Haus #PotsdamerStraße ist nicht betroffen. Alle Infos 👉 blog.sbb.berlin/wartungsarbe...

Currently, we are linking the imported entries to available authority files, so that users can learn about all copies of a certain book, once they find the title authority file, without having to go through the looong list of search results!😊

Time for quality control, again!👩‍🔧👨‍🔧
Since the set-up of #Qalamos, metadata from several larger collections have been imported to this portal. Yet, not all manuscript entries from the imported collections are linked to the book title #authority_files already available in Qalamos.

Photo: Max Freiherr von Oppeheim in his study during the Tell Halaf excavation in Syria.
(c)Max von Oppenheim Foundation

In 2023, the Max von Oppenheim Foundation gave its manuscript collection on permanent loan to the Berlin State Library. It is already partly available on #Qalamos. The not yet catalogued manuscripts will be described and the entire collection digitised by 2026. 😃
www.spkmagazin.de/blockbuster-...

Rückgabe der "Medeltidshandskrift 53 / Ms. gall. oct. 28" von der Universitätsbibliothek Lund an die #StabiBerlin. Wir bedanken uns ganz herzlich bei @swebotschaft.bsky.social für die freundschaftliche Geste & die Restitution dieses schönen Objekts 👉 sbb.berlin/ogsk8

Uncatalogued Arabic manuscript from West Africa — a fragmented. Loose leaves, varying paper sizes. Topics include mathematics, astrology, talismans, magic, divination, and treatises. I am looking for assistance with describing this manuscript, if interested, please DM me. Thanks

These datasets facilitate not only the search for a specific shelfmark, but can also be used to link datasets accross various portals and/or by repositories offering authority files for book titles.

The creation of authority files is a focal point of #Qalamos project. Of the over 165 thousand manuscript datasets, we have created over five thousand #authority_files for #book_titles, which are linked to the #manuscripts of each title.

Sīrat al-Ḥākim bi-Amrillāh – neue Handschriften des ägyptischen Epos identifiziert Von Amro Mounir, Kairo/South Valley University und Claudia Ott, Beedenbostel/Universität Göttingen Die arabische Epik (sīra šaʿbīya) ist ein Forschungsfeld voller ungehobener Schätze und unerschlossen...

Previously unknown manuscripts of the Egyptian epic Sīrat al-Ḥākim bi-Amrillāh have been identified 🤩
The Arabic epics are very extensive works with up to 70 volumes and more and represent extremely valuable sources for the history of ideas in the Arab world. Read more
od-portal.hypotheses.org/4191

Celebrating manuscript studies on both sides of the Atlantic! We're looking forward to the reception with our colleagues @sims-mss.bsky.social at the @imc-leeds.bsky.social tonight. Join us if you're there! #IMC2025

imc-leeds.confex.com/imc/2025/mee...

A short guide to writing materials through the ages Explore the evolution of writing materials from clay tablets to paper and learn how Transkribus digitises historical texts for modern research.

From clay tablets to the modern piece of paper, let's take a look at writing materials through the ages and how Transkribus can be used to bring these analogue writing forms into the digital age.

From the Ethiopian collection @stabiberlin.bsky.social: Ms.or.quart.1167 contains 18 sewn-in miniatures from five manuscripts. A Leporello panel (f.184v) depicts the Kidāna Mǝḥrat (Covenant of Mercy): Christ consoles Mary and promises salvation to all who pray to him in her name. #Qalamos #Ethiopia

An interesting new feature has been introduced by @hsprtl.bsky.social, which allows readers to make requests and suggestions to continuously improve the metadata of a given manuscript. Read more below about it, and let us know if you think it would be useful for #Qalamos.

Was uns in die Zukunft trägt. Summer Talks an der Stabi vom 2.-16. Juli 2025 - SBB aktuell Im Juli laden wir zu einer Reihe von Summer Talks in unseren Innenhof im Gebäude Unter den Linden ein. Im Abendlicht führt die Theaterwissenschaftlerin Margarita Tsomou mit unseren Gästen Gespräche zu...

☀️ Sommer, Sonne, Stabi: Im Juli laden wir euch den #SummerTalks unter freiem Stabi-Himmel ein. Theaterwissenschaftlerin Margarita Tsomou führt mit ihren Gästen Gespräche zu philosophischen & sozialpolitischen Grundbegriffen. Seid dabei & diskutiert mit!
Alle Termine 👉 blog.sbb.berlin/summertalks2...