University Libraries

Medieval Studies and Early Modern Collections

Highlights in these collections include a teaching collection of medieval manuscripts and leaves, significant holdings of medieval studies and early modern materials in facsimile, early printed works demonstrating the history of print communication, and the working papers of medieval and religious scholars. The collections highlighted below are a small part of our medieval and early modern collections. These items and many more can be located through Library Search.

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Monastic and medieval digital collections

Many of our monastic and medieval items have been digitized and are available for you to view online. This includes documents, manuscripts and reference works, as well as programs and schedules from the International Congress of Medieval Studies. Originals of all of these items are available at the Zhang Legacy Collections Center.
Monastic and medieval digital collections
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The Aelfric Archive (1886-1998)

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.
—You can also view Aelfric's Catholic Homolies online. See the digital collections link above.
The Aelfric Archive
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R. H. C. Davis Collection (1773-1990)

Notebooks of R. H. C. Davis, a British scholar who specialized in medieval history, which document his war service and his research including architectural notes and sketches of structures in Great Britain, Europe and the Middle East.
Davis Collection
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Facsimile Leaves Collection (1996-2013)

Reproductions of leaves of various medieval and early modern manuscripts.
Facsimile Leaves Collection
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Edward B. Irving, Jr. Old English Collection (1930-2001)

Class lectures, critical studies of medieval literature such as Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight from Dr. Edward Irving, who taught medieval literature at the University of Pennsylvania from 1960 to 1993, as well as and typescripts of his books.
Irving Old English Collection
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Bryce Lyon Correspondence Collection (1949-2007)

Correspondence between medieval historian Bryce Lyon and other scholars in the United States, United Kingdom and Belgium.
Lyon Correspondence Collection
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John Tedeschi Rare Italian Reformation Collection

Examples of fine Italian printing and book production, donated to the Medieval Institute by John Tedeschi, former librarian and Renaissance scholar.
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Philip Webber Middle Dutch Resource Archive

Materials gathered by Philip Webber, a professor at Central College in Pella, Iowa, to develop a Middle Dutch dictionary, which he did not complete, featuring notecards for words to be included in the proposed dictionary and secondary sources.
Webber Middle Dutch Resource Archive

Explore other parts of our Special Collections

We have more than 43,000 items available for your research, creative and academic projects.
Special Collections