The collection of the library of the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Damascus (GCPD) shows the vast interest of its collectors in diverse topics. Its 182 manuscripts cover a wide range of genres, including Bibles and commentaries, sermons and meditations, history, theology, and liturgy. For example, GCPD 00167 contains an Arabic Pentekostarion.

Additionally, the collection holds a number of Islamic texts, evidencing an interest in the interactions among different religious groups in the area.  These include legal works, commentaries, fables, and poetry, such the poetic Persian-Turkish dictionary by Vehbi, found in GCPD 00107. View now

55 years ago, in March 1967, Father Oliver Kapsner, OSB, and his team arrived at the Cistercian abbey of Zwettl in northwest Lower Austria. Over the course of about one month, they microfilmed 439 manuscripts and early printed books, dating mostly from the 12th to the 16th century. HMML has added records for all of these codices to Reading Room. These include Bibles, hagiographic collections, liturgical books, and a wide range of monastic and theological texts. One unusual item is an illustrated 18th-century manuscript describing a journey to South America and back by Florian Baucke (“Hin und her," or in English, “There and back”; 7012 and 7014).

Stift Zwettl is the last of nine Austrian Cistercian collections to be added to Reading Room. There are now 1,582 entries for manuscripts at the Cistercian houses of Heiligenkreuz, Lilienfeld, Mehrerau, Neukloster (Wiener Neustadt), Rein, Schlierbach, Stams, Wilhering, and Zwettl! View now

192 works of art, including watercolors, drawings, prints, and maps from the Malta Maritime Museum in Birgu, Malta, have been added to HMML Museum. The collection includes important watercolors by Nicolas Cammillieri and Paolo Ambrogio, and a near complete set of portraits of the Grand Masters of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem from the 1726 edition of René Aubert de Vertot's Histoire des chevaliers hospitaliers de S. Jean de Jerusalem. 33 maps, largely from the 17th century, are also found in the collection. The digitization of the art collection was done in partnership with Heritage Malta and forms part of the France and Malta in the Age of Revolution, 1775-1815 project. View now

Father Oliver Kapsner, OSB, and his team arrived at the Schottenstift (“Scottish Monastery”) in August 1966. This was the first HMML project right in Vienna, Austria, and it produced microfilms of 458 manuscripts. Records for these are now available in Reading Room.

The Schottenstift was founded in 1155 by Irish and Scottish monks to aid pilgrims travelling from Ireland to the Holy Land. The monastery was later transferred to the control of Melk Abbey in the 15th century. Most of their manuscripts date from the 14th to the 16th centuries. The collection includes an interesting 16th-century account of travel to Istanbul and Jerusalem, as well as a 15th-century life of Saint Benedict in pictures. Other highlights include a 1483 printed Bible in German with colored woodcuts and a 14th/15th-century world chronicle in German with hundreds of miniatures. View now

The collection of the Congregation of the Chaldean Daughters of Mary Immaculate in ‘Aynkāwah, Iraq (CSDMA), a women’s religious order of the Chaldean Catholic Church, has been cataloged and is available for viewing in HMML Reading Room.

The collection consists of 46 manuscripts in Syriac, Neo-Aramaic, and Arabic, including liturgical books, theological works, works on medicine, and protective charms. View now

In the last decade of his life, Father Albīr Abūnā (1928-2021) sat down in Stockholm, Sweden, or in Erbil, Iraq, translating works of popular Catholic authors into Arabic. These authors include Pope Francis, Anselm Grün, Raniero Cantalamessa, Carlo M. Martini, and Joan Chittister. Father Albīr worked on the French originals or translations of these works with publication in mind. Thus, he wrote some instructions to the publishers such as “put a photo of the author here,” or “this paragraph is to be added as a blurb,” and so on. Additionally, he translated a couple of works from Syriac and Aramaic old editions into Arabic.

His private manuscript collection (PLE FAA) consists of 67 manuscripts that represent mainly the autographs of these translations. They were digitized by HMML in 2018 and are now available in the Reading Room. View now

Cataloging is now complete for the Arabic-script manuscripts microfilmed by HMML during the 1960s and 1970s at the Austrian National Library. The newly cataloged records are available online in Reading Room.

Among its massive collections, the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek holds several thousand manuscripts in Arabic script, primarily Islamic with a few Christian items. Over 3,200 of these were photographed and microfilmed by HMML in 1971 and are now fully cataloged in HMML’s online Reading Room. They include over a thousand manuscripts each in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish (alongside Chagatai and other Turkic languages and dialects), over 500 in Persian, a few in Urdu, and one each in Bosnian and Albanian. This is now the most comprehensive catalog of the collection to be found anywhere, because the Nationalbibliothek is still in the process of integrating information into their own online catalog, especially for items acquired since the catalog of Gustav Flügel was published in the 1860s. HMML’s catalog also corrects some errors found in earlier catalogs. The collection is an especially valuable resource for Ottoman Turkish, including many items that can otherwise be found nowhere outside Turkey (or nowhere at all).

Literary and historical texts are especially well represented in the collection, which includes highlights ranging from the world’s oldest known New Persian manuscript (Cod. A.F. 340, dated 1056 CE) to diplomatic correspondence exchanged between the Austrian and Ottoman empires. About 250 of the manuscripts comprise the Glaser collection, acquired by the library in the 1890s and consisting primarily of Zaydī manuscripts from Yemen. The Glaser microfilms have been scanned and are available for viewing online; the remainder of the microfilms can be consulted onsite in Minnesota or can be scanned for a fee, or the catalog records can be used as a resource for research in contact with the library in Vienna. View now

The collection of manuscripts from the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Homs, Syria (SOAH) is now fully cataloged and available for viewing in Reading Room. The city of Homs is significant in the history of the Syriac Orthodox Church because it briefly served as the home for the Patriarchate (from 1932 until 1959).

The SOAH collection is comprised primarily of liturgical manuscripts (Bibles, Lectionaries, Anaphoras, Beth Gazos, Prayer books, etc.) in Arabic Garshuni and Syriac. While the vast majority of the collection is written in the West Syriac (Serto) script, there are a small number of manuscripts written in the East Syriac and Melkite scripts, suggesting that the SOAH library collected manuscripts from other churches in the area. Many of the manuscripts were copied in Homs or nearby villages like Ṣadad and Fairouzeh, though some were copied in Lebanon and in small villages along the modern Syria-Lebanon border. Most of the manuscripts are modern productions (19th-20th century), but there are several 15th-century or 16th-century manuscripts and a very important 12th-century Fenqitho manuscript (SOAH 292). View now

The owner of this private library, Ḥikmat Raḥmānī, is known for his work cataloging several libraries in Iraq, such as the library of Dayr al-Ābāʼ al-Karmalīyīn (Baghdad, Iraq). The sixty-three manuscripts which constitute his private collection have recently become available in HMML’s Reading Room.

These manuscripts express the various interests of their owner. His library includes historical works, dictionaries, notebooks, and musical notations and hymns. More importantly, many manuscripts in the Private Library of Ḥikmat Raḥmānī are related to Father Anistās Mārī, al-Karmilī, 1866-1947. For instance, there are autographs of his published works such as Muʻjam al-Musāʻid, and others of works that were never published such as Muʻjam al-Qabāʼil al-ʻArabīyah. There are also some of his compilations in addition to correspondence with some of the intellectual elites of his days. View now

We have consolidated our lists of collections, both cataloged and uncataloged, into a new database. You can now search and see a list of collections and their preservation and cataloging status. Completed collections are in HMML Reading Room or HMML Museum.

The manuscript collection of the Chaldean Archdiocese of Kirkuk (ACK) is now fully cataloged and available in HMML Reading Room. The collection includes 219 manuscripts, the contents of which are written primarily in Syriac, but also in Arabic, Arabic Garshuni, Turkish Garshuni, and Neo-Aramaic (Sureth).

Among the manuscripts are many copies of ecclesiastical and liturgical works, including Bibles, lectionaries, Ḥudras, and various liturgies used in the Chaldean rite. There are also translations of modern Roman Catholic authors into Syriac, Arabic Garshuni, and Turkish Garshuni, suggesting a robust local translation effort and a diverse population among the archdiocese. Many of the manuscripts were produced locally in Kirkuk, providing evidence of a strong scribal tradition of the area, while others were copied in Alqūsh, Tel Keppe, or Baghdad.

Most of the manuscripts were produced in the 19th or 20th centuries, but there are a few older manuscripts, including a dated 13th-century New Testament manuscript (ACK 00003) and a 15th-century copy of the Paradise of Eden by ʻAbdīshōʻ bar Brīkā (ACK 00066). Other noteworthy manuscripts among the collection include a somewhat rare hagiographical “Life of Ezekiel of Duqoq” (after whom was named a monastery near Kirkuk; ACK 00074), a collection of works by the East Syriac author Barḥadbšabba Arbaya (ACK 00147), and a somewhat unique collection of hagiographical and apocryphal works (ACK 00213). View now

280 volumes of the Parish Archives of Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, Naxxar, have been added to HMML Reading Room. Records inlcude baptisms, marriages, deaths wills and charitable bequests along with records include memorial masses, account books, confraternity records, historical notes, records from the French occupation of Malta, list of priests and notarial acts. The primary parish records can also be accessed by using the portal maltaparisharchives.org to find the volumes. View now

46 volumes of the Parish Archives of St. Nicholas of Bari Church, Siġġiewi, have been added to HMML Reading Room. Records include baptisms, marriages, wills and charitable bequests along with records include memorial masses, account books, confraternity records, historical notes, list of priests and notarial acts. The records can be accessed by using the portal maltaparisharchives.org to find the volumes. View now

The seminary of St. Anne's, Jerusalem (SAJL) was established in the 19th century by the French as a part of the church under the same name. Its collection contains 246 manuscripts mostly in Arabic with a few in the Greek and French languages. Liturgy is the highlight of this collection: 91 out the 246 manuscripts are liturgical manuscripts. Although St. Anne’s seminary was a Greek Catholic seminary, they kept the Greek Orthodox liturgy in practice. Therefore, liturgical manuscripts in this collection are expressions of the Byzantine rite. See for example the Horologion (SAJL 00103), Euchologion (SAJL 00222), and Triodion (SAJL 00251).  There is also a significant collection of the writings of John of Damascus among the preserved texts. View now

The collection of manuscripts held by the Aboubacar Ben Said Library (SAV ABS) is now fully cataloged and active in Reading Room. This is the first of 31 family libraries from Tombouctou evacuated to the Malian capital Bamako in 2012 by SAVAMA, a local NGO, following an Islamist insurgency in the region. 

SAV ABS has 7559 digital collection items, all of which are now freely accessible to the public via Reading Room. The collection is noteworthy for its large amount of esoteric material such as Fāʼidahs--recipes to obtain various spiritual and physical benefits--beneficial prayers, divination and geomancy. Especially interesting are collections of medical remedies that use a combination of verses from the Qur’an and local flora and fauna, rendered in Bambara and Fulfulde, two local languages, written in Arabic script (SAV ABS 02570).

The collection also contains fine copies of classical works of Islamic learning such as Ibn Mālik’s Alfīyah on Arabic grammar (SAV ABS 00007) and an Arabic dictionary (SAV ABS 03132), both likely imported from North Africa, as well as excellent examples of West African calligraphic styles such as Sūqi (SAV ABS 04305). It features Qur’ans and copies of the Dalāʼil al-Khayrāt, a work praising Prophet Muhammad, with the rich illuminations and geometric designs typical in West Africa. It also includes noted works by West African scholars such as the Kunta family, Usuman dan Fodio (1754-1817) and ʻUmar Tal (1794?-1864), as well as previously unknown scholars such as Yeɗi Sanba Ɓooyi, who produced several pentastitch poems, and a wide selection of locally produced and mostly anonymous works on the basic elements of the Islamic faith.

While we know little about the provenance of the collection outside of the Aboubacar Ben Said family, copyist notes reveal some interesting archival histories. SAV ABS 03264 was commissioned by Aḥmad ibn Aḥmad, second ruler of Masina. And several texts give genealogies for important Fulani, Ṣanhāja and Kunta families, and mention trading towns such as Timbuktu and Arawān, which stretch back six generations or more. While most texts date to the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries, the oldest (SAV ABS 03135) is dated 1687 and many others were produced only in the last fifty years. View now

When Father Oliver Kapsner, OSB, traveled to Austria in late 1964 to seek permission to microfilm monastic collections of manuscripts, he stopped first at the Archabbey of Saint Peter. Although the community at Saint Peter’s supported his mission, they did not sign an agreement at that time for HMML to microfilm their collection. He was able to return in January to March 1968, when he directed the microfilming of 924 monastic manuscripts.

This venerable Benedictine abbey, founded by Saint Rupert in 690, is the oldest monastery in western Europe to have carried on its work without interruption to the present day. Although many codices were lost to Paris, Vienna, and Munich during the turbulent years of the early 19th century, the renowned scriptorium of the monastery is still represented by some 1300 manuscripts, dating as early as the 8th and 9th centuries. Included among these are many Benedictine authors and history not represented elsewhere. View now

Founded in 1133, Abtei Heiligenkreuz is the oldest Cistercian monastery in the world to be occupied without interruption. Located abut 25 miles south of Vienna, this abbey was also the founder of several other Cistercian abbeys in central Europe. Among these are Stift Zwettl and Stift Lilienfeld, both with collections that were also microfilmed by HMML. Between September 11, 1966, and October 10, 1966, Father Oliver Kapsner, OSB, and his filming crew photographed nearly 400 manuscripts (dated 10th century-17th century).

The collection includes many manuscripts from the 12th through the 14th centuries, when the scriptorium at Heiligenkreuz was particularly active. The library’s holdings represent a broad palette of monastic books, including several Bibles, commentaries, liturgical books, and sermon collections, as well as medical and scientific works. View now

The collection of manuscripts from Qalb al-Aqdas Chaldean Church in Tel Kepe (QACCT), Iraq, has now been fully cataloged and is active in Reading Room. The village of Tel Kepe, located between Mosul and Alqosh, has historically been home to a large community of Syriac heritage Christians, particularly associated with the Chaldean Catholic Church. The manuscripts were digitized in 2010, just a few years before the village was captured by the Islamic State (ISIL) in 2014, forcing the Christian families to flee.

The collection consists of 227 manuscripts, primarily containing texts written in the Syriac language, but there are also texts in Arabic, Arabic Garshuni, and Neo-Aramaic (Sureth). Most of the manuscripts are dated to the 18th through 19th centuries, though there are several important earlier manuscripts among the collection, such as QACCT 00008, an Evangelion that, while undated, was likely copied sometime between the 9th and 12th centuries. While many of the manuscripts were copied in Tel Kepe, others were copied in nearby villages like Gazarta, Alqūsh, and Mosul. Several of these manuscripts were copied by well-known scribal families in Alqūsh and Tel Kepe, and their colophons provide important information for studying scribal culture and the transmission of texts in the early period of the Chaldean Catholic tradition. The collection is primarily composed of manuscripts for liturgical use, though it also contains copies of works by patristic authors and other theological texts, both ancient and modern. View now

The collection of the Greek Orthodox Church of Mār Jirjis in Bishmizzīn, Lebanon, includes 14 manuscripts, now fully active in Reading Room. It represents an example of how a village church could locally provide its needs of liturgical manuscripts. Manuscripts of this church were copied by locals of the church or in the nearby monastery of al-Balamand. View now

The Lebanese Maronite Missionary Order (LMMO; Jamʻīyat al-Mursalīn al-Lubnānīyyn al-Mawārinah) is relatively recent. It was established in 1865 CE by Metropolitan Yūḥannā al-Ḥabīb. This short, yet rich, history with all its challenges and struggles is well documented and preserved in their manuscript collection housed in Jūniyah, Lebanon, and now displayed in HMML Reading Room.

It is possible to trace the history of the LMMO collection with its 597 manuscripts to 4 main sources. First, some manuscripts passed down through certain families or individuals who finally donated them to the order. Second, a considerable number of the manuscripts come from monasteries’ libraries, for example, the library of Dayr al-Kuraym where the order was first established and the convent of the visitation of the Virgin. Third, students in the schools of the order such as ʿAyn Waraqah and ʿAyn Tūrah provided part of the collection represented in their Arabic, French, and Latin notebooks, in addition to grammars and dictionaries. Fourth, members of the order contributed to the collection through their meticulous documentation of the history of the order, the life of its founder, and the endeavor to establish new venues in Latin America. These specific writings cover a wide range of genres such as autobiographies, biographies, travel accounts, rules and regulations, documents, and correspondence. View now