Special Collections Stories

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Migrating Monastic Books in Minnesota
November 21, 2024

Migrating Monastic Books in Minnesota

“On September 8, 1876, four boxes of books arrived...”

  • Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman
Metaphorical Meteorology, or: When a Sunny Day Offers More Than Sunshine
May 9, 2024

Metaphorical Meteorology, or: When a Sunny Day Offers More Than Sunshine

“In describing printed books, a cataloger looks for subjects or areas of study where...”

  • Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman
Postscript — For Loving You Too Much
February 7, 2024

Postscript — For Loving You Too Much

“One of the most common uses of manuscripts over the centuries is to train children in reading and writing...”

  • Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman
A Christmas Hymn Sing-Along
December 21, 2023

A Christmas Hymn Sing-Along

“Singing is one of those amazing things...”

  • Dr. Catherine Walsh
I Know It When I See It (I Think…)
November 9, 2023

I Know It When I See It (I Think…)

“I’m not a musicologist, but I am an avid fan of music from all times...”

  • Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman
Gone, but not Forgotten: the Office for the Dead in Books of Hours
July 20, 2023

Gone, but not Forgotten: the Office for the Dead in Books of Hours

“A choir of cowled monks around a shrouded casket, a body being laid into a coffin, a smiling skeletal figure, an old man sitting on a dung heap...”

  • Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman
March 30, 2023

Learning to Write: Practical Aspects of Handwriting

“In 1492, the abbot of a Benedictine monastery in Sponheim, Germany, wrote a small paean to scribes and the act of writing...”

Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman

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January 19, 2023

Poetry and Agriculture, a Fragmentary Scrapbook

“Manuscripts are known for their idiosyncratic nature...”

Dr. Catherine Walsh

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December 8, 2022

Hiding in the Binding — Fragments in Rare Book Collections at HMML

“Much of human history remains for us today only in the form of smaller remnants or fragments...”

Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman

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A Book You Would Love to Read...
September 29, 2022

A Book You Would Love to Read...

“A book you would love to read is lost, altered, destroyed, buried, hidden, left unpublished, unwritten, banned.”

  • Dr. Catherine Walsh and Margaret Bresnahan
Sandwiching a Forbidden Text
September 15, 2022

Sandwiching a Forbidden Text

“The advent of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century led to...”

  • Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman
Feeling the Heavens
July 21, 2022

Feeling the Heavens

“In summer of 1917, the New York-based artist Rockwell Kent made a bold decision.”

  • Dr. Catherine Walsh
July 22, 2021

When in Rome...

“Rome has long been a destination for travelers from around the world.”

Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman

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A Tale of Two Herbals, From Medicine to Food in the 16th Century
March 17, 2021

A Tale of Two Herbals, From Medicine to Food in the 16th Century

“Herbals—books describing the medicinal use of plants—have been important scientific sources for...”

  • Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman
Ancient Writing Revealed During HMML Palimpsest Imaging at Stanford's SLAC Lab
February 21, 2020

Ancient Writing Revealed During HMML Palimpsest Imaging at Stanford's SLAC Lab

“HMML’s very own palimpsest fragment recently underwent high energy x-ray imaging at...”

  • Dr. Melissa Moreton
Seeing the Invisible — Multispectral Imaging of Ancient and Medieval Manuscripts
July 1, 2019

Seeing the Invisible — Multispectral Imaging of Ancient and Medieval Manuscripts

“This year marks twenty years since the first significant efforts were made to use multispectral imaging (MSI) to reveal hidden...”

  • Dr. Melissa Moreton

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