In addition to significant holdings of facsimiles of medieval manuscripts, a teaching collection of codices and manuscript leaves, examples of early printed works, and a wide range of secondary sources, Special Collections holds collections of the working papers of respected medievalists and collections from specialist book collectors.
Materials in these collections can be located through Library Search.
Print collections
William John Cameron Collection
Collected by William John Cameron (1878-1955), an executive of the Ford Motor Company, this collection includes books printed in the United Kingdom between the 16th and early 19th centuries on theology, law, philosophy, politics, literature and more.
John Tedeschi Rare Italian Reformation Collection
John Tedeschi, a former librarian and Renaissance scholar, donated this collection to the Medieval Institute. It includes several examples of fine Italian printing and book production.
R. H. C. Davis Collection (1773-1990)
R. H. C. Davis was a British scholar specializing in medieval history, particularly architecture and art history. Dr. Davis kept notebooks throughout his life which document his war service and his research including architectural notes and sketches of structures in Great Britain, Europe and the Middle East. Special Collections also holds some of his personal library.
Edward B. Irving, Jr. Old English Collection (1930-2001)
Dr. Irving taught medieval literature at the University of Pennsylvania from 1960 to 1993. Included in this collection are class lectures, critical studies of medieval literature such as Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and typescripts of his books.
The Aelfric Archive (1886-1998)
This archive includes source materials for Dr. Luke Reinsma’s Aelfric: An Annotated Bibliography (1987). Aelfric, Abbot of Eynsham, wrote Anglo-Saxon Homilies, translated the Bible and wrote on various subjects including sermons, grammar and poetry.
Bryce Lyon Correspondence Collection (1949-2007)
Correspondence between medieval historian Bryce Lyon and other scholars in the United States, United Kingdom and Belgium can be found in this collection.
Facsimile Leaves Collection (1996-2013)
This collection contains reproductions of leaves of various medieval and early modern manuscripts.
Digital collections
Ancient and Medieval Digital Collections
These collections feature digital versions of ancient and medieval materials. This group of collections includes the Medieval Document Collection, Medieval Manuscript Variants in Aelfric of Eynsham’s Catholic Homilies, Cistercian Liturgy Series, Cistercian Reference Works, Internal Congress on Medieval Studies programs and schedules, and more.