Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments
Tisch Library holds 50 manuscripts, both codices and single-leaf documents, covering the 13th through 19th centuries. Our manuscripts cover a wide variety of topics, from religious works to classical texts, from charters and legal documents to manuscripts on magic and prognostication.
Sample images, and as time and funds permit, complete digital copies, can be seen on the Special Collections flickr page.
The library also holds over two dozen fragments donated in the 1950s and '60s, from manuscripts, early printed books, and fine press books. Tufts students in Art History and Medieval Latin have contributed transcriptions, translations, and commentaries for some pieces in the collection. A selection of images are online.
This material is not available for recall in the Tufts Archival Research Center (TARC) reading room. Please contact specialcollections@tufts.edu.
Facsimiles
Rare and valuable in their own right, facsimiles of medieval manuscripts are created by the most exacting techniques of modern printing to replicate the size and appearance of medieval manuscripts. Scholars in art history, literature, music, and history study facsimiles to gain insights that cannot be gleaned from digital images - although such images, too, are important adjuncts to the study of medieval books. Facsimiles convey meaningful information about the content, artistic qualities, materials, size, heft, colors, and binding techniques of the medieval codex.
At the time of this update (August '25) there no longer is an easy way of finding facsimiles in the Tufts catalog. An advanced search in which the subject contains "manuscripts" and "facsimiles", with results facets "Tisch Library" and "books" checked, will bring up many relevant titles, but also many that are not.
For access to manuscripts and manuscript fragments, or to arrange a class visit, please contact Christopher Barbour, Head of Special Collections.
Individuals may consult most other Special Collections materials, including manuscript facsimiles, in Tisch Library. These books may be used only in the library. Request them by their call numbers for consultation in the TARC Reading Room on Level G, Monday-Friday 9 am – 4 pm.
