Houghton Library,
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
New England Historic Genealogical Society,
Boston, MA in Boston Massachusetts
American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA
The Mission of the Manuscript Society is to encourage the collection and preservation of manuscript documents; to stimulate and aid collectors in their various collecting specialties; to facilitate the exchange of information and knowledge among collectors, scholars, dealers and the general public; and to promote the highest professional and ethical standards.
Love for the written word drives our members. History you can hold in your hand. A connection to the past. Hunting for the next piece to add to your collection. Members are individuals; collectors, archivists, history lovers and librarians. Members are dealers and auction houses. Members are libraries, historical societies, and universities. All are passionate about the history revealed in their manuscripts. Whether you collect family letters or presidential signatures; cartoons or signed photographs; musical scores or any other kind of manuscript you are part of our world. Join us in this glorious exploration!
Latest Digest
Digest – August 2020
Manuscript Digest – August 2020 – This complimentary e-digest, launched in 2012, covers significant acquisitions and sales, manuscripts lost and found, rare books and ephemera, document conservation, and more.
Recent Posts
Lincoln Letters – You Can Read Them
Library of Congress – Lincoln Letters Project Last month, the Library of Congress completed a two-year, crowdsourced project to transcribe 10,000 documents in its vast collection of Abraham Lincoln’s papers and make them legible. Now anyone can read the scribbling of correspondents. Each wrote with a variety of spelling, grammar and punctuation skills. The Lincoln […]
World War II Letters On Line
75 Years in the Making September 1945. A call goes out. It was from Kansas City radio broadcaster Ted Malone. Malone hosted a nationally-syndicated ABC show “Between the Bookends.” He asked listeners to send in wartime correspondence. The letters would be considered for a book of war letters. The book would be edited by University […]
Douglass Scrapbooks and Papers go to Yale
Dr. Walter Evans, a leading collector of African-American art, acquired the bulk of his Douglass collection in the 1980s from a dealer. The collection became a seedbed for Dr. Blight’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2018 biography “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom.” And now, it has been acquired by Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. It will […]
Anti-Slavery Manuscript Project – Volunteer
At the end of the 19th century, family members and associates of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison donated a number of his letters and other documents to the Boston Public Library. They are now in the Anti-Slavery Collection. Today, the archive has grown to include roughly 40,000 items—letters, pamphlets, books, memorabilia, and even a copy of […]
Rowan Public Library – We Salute You
From Rowan Public Library: Rowan Public Library’s Edith M. Clark History Room collections are directly benefiting from a dedicated teleworking Library Staff. They are updating and transcribing collections. This provides valuable information for all researchers. The History Room concentrates primarily on Western North Carolina genealogy and history. This includes all areas of Rowan County. Holdings […]
New Shusaku Endo Novel Found
An unpublished manuscript by acclaimed author Shusaku Endo was discovered at the museum dedicated to his works in Nagasaki, Japan. This complete novel is the first time a fair copy of a finished novel by Endo has turned up since is death in 1996. The discovery was made on June 26, 2020. The work is […]
Society Response to Carnegie Library Thefts
Over the last couple of years most of us have followed with concern, horror and then anger resulting from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh thefts criminal actions. The case reminds us of how fortunate we are to be working, collecting, and maintaining the extraordinary and fragile, and often unique, works created through the centuries that […]
Carnegie Library Theft – Sentencing of Schulman and Priore
Judge Alexander P. Bicket sentenced John Schulman, and Greg Priore yesterday. The sentence: home detention and probation. The judge said the non-jail terms were due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic. Home confinement with electronic monitoring allows convicted felons trips outside their homes for worship and medical care. Neither man, Judge Bicket said, may profit […]
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