The Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
The Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts advances learning and inspires discovery in Penn's community and around the world. The goals of the Kislak Center align with those of the Penn Libraries as a whole: to make our collections accessible; to use technology in innovative and meaningful ways; to enhance teaching and research; and to preserve our cultural resources for future generations. To learn more about the Kislak Center, visit our website.
- A.S.W. Rosenbach Lectures in Bibliography
- Collection Materials
- Henry Charles Lea Lectures
- Kislak Papers: Studies From the Collections of The University of Pennsylvania Libraries
- Lorraine Beitler Collection of the Dreyfus Affair Distinguished Lecture Series
- Manuscript Studies
- Penn Judaica
- Penn Manuscript Collective
- Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (SIMS)
- The Library Chronicle
- Unique at Penn
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Publication Penn Library's LJS 494 - [Marʼeh ha-ofanim] ... [etc.]. (Video Orientation)Porter, DotVideo Orientation to the University of Pennsylvania Library's LJS 494, a Hebrew translation of a fundamental treatise on medieval astronomy and cosmology that describes and illustrates the Ptolemaic model of a spherical earth divided into climactic zones at the center of the concentric spheres of the universe. Followed by Ruaḥ ha-ḥen, a 13th-century philosophical work that was a popular introduction to science, here attributed to Yehudah ibn Tibon. It has also been attributed to Jacob ben Abba Mari ben Samson Anatoli and Zeraḥyah ha-Yeṿani. Occasional marginal notes. Final page contains Hebrew notes and pen trials by various hands (f. 22v). Written in northern Italy in the second quarter of the 15th century (based on watermark information). Record on Franklin, with link to a digital copy: https://franklin.library.upenn.edu/catalog/FRANKLIN_9959630913503681 Record on Internet Archive, with a link to PDF: https://archive.org/details/ljs494Publication Penn Library's Library's LJS 495 - [Kharīdat al-ʻajāʼib wa farīḍat ...] (Video Orientation)Porter, DotVideo Orientation to the University of Pennsylvania Library's LJS 495, a cosmography containing a compendium of place names, seas, and mountains; information on flora and fauna; and a brief explanation of the game of chess. This text has also been attributed to the 14th-century author Zayn al-Dīn ʻUmar ibn al-Muẓaffar ibn al-Wardī. The item is undated, though it was possibly produced in the mid-to-late 15th or early 16th century. The colophon has been partially pasted over.Publication Index to James G. Spady's contributions to the Philadelphia New Observer, 1985-2006(University of Pennsylvania Libraries, 2023) Xie, ZhangyangAn index to pieces written by the writer, activist, journalist, and historianJames G. Spady (1944-2020) in the Philadelphia New Observer newspaper which are present as clippings in the Spady Papers at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn Ms. Coll. 1509). This index was compiled during 2023 and contains more than 1,700 articles written by Spady indexed under several key terms, many of which deal with Philadelphia arts, culture, and African American history. While not an exhaustive list of everything Spady wrote for the Philadelphia New Observer, the index is based on clippings made and selected by Spady and thus offers a particularly valuable insight into Spady's professional work, academic interests, community engagement, and philosophy of life.Publication The Diary of Ray Evans, 1939-1945(University of Pennsylvania Libraries, 2015) Evans, Ray, 1915-2007The papers of Hollywood lyricist and University of Pennsylvania alumnus Ray Evans (Wharton class of 1936) were donated to the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts in 2011 by the Ray and Wyn Ritchie Evans Foundation. Among the treasures in the collection is the songster’s diary, kept during the war years of 1939-1945. Written in pen on looseleaf notebook paper and bound by a small three ring binder, it may have been one of several diaries kept by Evans, but today it is the only one that survives. As a means to encourage exploration of these formative years, Evans’ lyrics and music in general, and his collection of personal and professional papers here at Penn we have transcribed and digitized the diary, presenting it as an online flip book. Images of the diary pages and a transcription for easier reading are presented side by side. The transcription here was created by John F. Anderies and first published to the web in 2015 at the URL . The fully digitized diary is also available online at . The contents of this diary are copyright The Ray & Wyn Ritchie Evans Foundation.Publication Dupleix Correspondence(1752) Dupleix, Joseph-François, marquis, 1697-1763Typescript transcriptions made for Prof. Holden Furber at sometime before 1968 from the correspondence of Joseph François Dupleix (1697-1763) held then at the Archives départementales et Seine-et-Oise at Versailles. The correspondence covers January to May 1752 and relates to Dupleix's activities in Southern India. Some items are fragmentary. The originals of these letters are held today at the Archives départementales de l'Essonne fonds Valory-Dupleix E 3750. These typescripts were part of Prof. Furber's papers given to the University of Pennsylvania, formerly in UPenn Ms. Coll. 1238, they were considered too fragile for retention and digitized in September 2023. The digitized version is also available on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/DupleixPapersFurber/mode/2upPublication Moment in Time(2013-03-14) Fraas, Arthur MitchellContextual essay about an image of librarians cataloging books in 1948 at Penn Libraries.Publication Ezra Pound and Overdue Poetry(2013-05-09) Fraas, Arthur MitchellContextual essay about Ezra Pound, his time at Penn, and his overdue poetry book from the Penn Libraries.Publication Among the Reels(2013-02-25) Fraas, Arthur MitchellEssay about Penn's primary source microfilm collection.Publication A Rocket Cat? Early Modern Explosives Treatises at Penn(2013-02-05) Fraas, Arthur MitchellContextual essay on an early modern explosives and warfare treatise held at Penn and the origin of the so-called "rocket cat"Publication Signers Day(2012-07-04) Fraas, Arthur MitchellContextual essay on signatures in the Hale Signers Collection at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries.