2026 RGME Visit to The Grolier Club
February 6, 2026 in Uncategorized
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2026 Theme of the Year: “Transformations and Renewals”
December 13, 2025 in Uncategorized
“Transformations & Renewals”
Our Theme for 2026
[Posted by our Director on 10 December 2025, with updates]
For the Year 2026, the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence chooses the Theme of “Transformations and Renewals” for exploration as part of its activities and projects. This choice stands within our tradition (since 2022) of a theme to guide and inspire the interconnected subjects and interwoven strands of activities and projects for the year. On this tradition and its choices with successes and growth for individual years, see
Through the year 2026, we propose to examine and contemplate myriad ways in which life-forces, powers (natural, man-made, unnatural, or supernatural), abilities, and changes have impact upon the realms of books and human knowledge, understanding, and creativity in word, image, and form. We search, for example, for cases and prospects for transformations, upheavals, metamorphoses, restorations, and other transitions or transmissions which may betoken, foster, or embody progress worthy of the name — especially in new, vital, or revived forms preserving or creating qualities or virtues worthy of adoption, incorporation, cultivation, nurture, growth, and celebration.
Join us as we discuss such components, characteristics, or conditions across a wide range of periods, places, genres, and case-studies to compare notes about ways in which transformations and renewals might, in turn, take seed or take flight, to grow or soar in a generations’-long process in the transmission of knowledge, skills, understanding, and the delight of learning, mentoring, and sharing fruits or journeys in the realms of the written word and its accompaniments in image, song, or memory.
Some motifs (or mascots, guides, cautions, or models) for our quest for 2026 include
- seeds, sprouts, seedlings, plantlife, harvests, and cornucopias in the botanical and terrestrial world;
- larvae, caterpillars, and butterflies; or eggs, hatchlings, fledglings, and birds or reptiles in the aerial or aquatic realms;
- embryos, infants, youthful creatures/beings (such as cubs, kittens, children, or other forms), adults, and elders in human and animal realms;
- entities or hybrids in biological, celestial, and/or imaginary realms (such as from the imagination to the stars and constellations and back again)
We look to examples in the natural world, literature, art, history, lore, and more. We welcome suggestions.
Cases in Point
Birth or Renewal
Image via https://mcswhispers.wordpress.com/2019/09/03/renewal/.
Growth and/with Change
Life Cycles or Stages
In Transition: Papilio Macheon Caterpillar
Papilionidae – Papilio machaon. Photograph (August 2007, Cerreto Ratti, Alessandria, Italy) by Hectonichus, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
In the Fullness of Time: Papilio Machaeon (Old World Swallowtail) Butterfly
Papilio Machaeol: Old World Swallowtail, female, Dorsal side, recently emerged from its chrysalis. Photograph (9 May 2016, Normandy) by Entomolo, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
Transformation
For example, when stories or ideas come to life. In the process, they might manifest, or make manifest, characteristics, dynamics, or powers in conjunction, conflict, resolution, and/or transformation.
Among precedents or models for such changes are the varied stories as episodes in the hauntingly memorable Metamorphoses in Latin verse in fifteen Books by Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC–17/18 AD). In a nutshell: “The poem chronicles the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar in a mythico-historical framework comprising over 250 myths, 15 books, and 11,995 lines” (Metamorphoses). The enduring popularity of the work ensured copies in many forms in manuscript and print for a wide variety of audiences in a multiplicity of languages and formats.
An example: an early-printed copy of the Metamorphoses in Italian, translated with commentary by Giovanni Bonsignore and printed in Venice by Johannes Rubeus Vercellensis for Lucantonio Giunta, 10 Apr. 1497. (ISTC number io00185000; GW M28952.) Here the full-page frontispiece (Fol. 5r) locates the opening words of Book I within a landscape showing the figures of Creation before humans.
Ovid’s Metamorphoses (printed 10 April 1497), Carta_a1r2.jpg. Image via Biblioteca Europea di Informazione e Cultura, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
In fact, years ago, the RGME prepared a major symposium on the subject of Ovid’s Metamorphoses and other forms of transformation or ‘reincarnation’. It was intended to be held at Trinity College Cambridge, where the co-organizer, our friend and Trustee Vivian Anne Law (1954–2002) was Fellow. The program as she and I planned and worked on it would have been superb. Her illness and unexpected complexities and obstacles or challenges attendant upon the RGME’s move of its principal base from England to the United States interrupted the progress of the plan. Since then, the papers for that intention reside in the RGME Library & Archives with the informal title “Avid for Ovid”.
Such awareness revives with the new choice to embrace the theme of “Transformations and Renewals” for the Year 2026 for RGME activities and projects.
Rome, Galleria Borghesi, Apollo and Daphne (1622) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680), after the Metamorphoses by Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC–17/18 AD). Photograph by Architas, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
Hybrid
Among many examples both real and fictional or surreal, we might highlight the fabled Sphinx of antiquity.
Vatican City, Vatican Museums. Oedipus and the Sphinx of Thebes, Red Figure Kylix, c. 470 BC, from Vulci, attributed to the Oedipus Painter (Inv. no. 16541). Photograph by Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org>.
Watch this space as RGME activities for 2026 take shape.
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RGME Themes for the Year (since 2023)
Milan, Casa Campanini, Entry Gate, designed by Alfredo Campanini (1873–1926). Photograph by Giovanni Dall’Orto (26 February 2008), Share Alike 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Last year, the RGME chose the Theme of “Thresholds and Communities”, which our multiple activities developed in a variety of ways.
The choice emerged in conversations reflecting upon the strong benefits of the previous year’s choice, “Bridges” as an overarching theme for 2024 and its year’s funded Project “Between Past and Future”, designed for “Building Bridges between Special Collections and Teaching for the Liberal Arts”.
For 2023, our Theme of “Materials and Access” drew guidance and inspiration through the funded 2023 Project on the “RGME Library & Archives” and the Spring and Autumn Symposia on “Materials and Access”.
For our first Theme for the Year in 2022, “Structured Knowledge” (chosen by our new Editorial Committee), the year’s activities explored such subjects as “Catalogues, Metadata, and Databases” in RGME Episodes and our 2022 Spring and Autumn Symposia on Structures for and Supports of Knowledge.
2025
“Thresholds and Communities”
“Agents and Agencies”
2025 Spring Symposium Poster, Set in RGME Bembino.
2024
“Bridges”
For example:
2024 RGME Spring Symposium at Vassar College
2024 RGME Inaugural Session at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds
RGME @ 2024 IMC at Leeds: Poster 2 set in RGME Bembino, with border.
2023
“Materials and Access”
2023 Spring and Autumn Symposia
- 2023 Spring Symposium. “From the Ground Up”
- 2023 Autumn Symposium. “Between Earth and Sky”
2023 Spring Pre-Symposium/Symposium Booklet Front Cover.
2022
“Structured Knowledge”
See our 2022 Spring and Autumn Symposia:
- “Structures of Knowledge” (Spring)
- “Supports for Knowledge” (Autumn)
2022 Autumn Symposium Program Booklet, Front Cover (Page 1)
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Workshop 9 on “Books as Thresholds and Communities”
November 5, 2025 in Uncategorized
“The Research Group Speaks”
Workshop 9
“Books as Thresholds and Communities”
Sunday 21 December 2025
Online by Zoom
[Posted on 4 November 2025, with updates]
For our series, see
We propose hold the next Workshop on 21 December.
“Thresholds and Communities”
Florence, Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Domenico di Michelino, Dante Alighieri with Florence and the Realms of the Divine Comedy (Hell, Purgatory, Paradise). Oil on canvas, 1465. Image Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dante_Domenico_di_Michelino.jpg.
As the year 2025 draws to a close, we reflect on our Theme for the Year, “Thresholds and Communities” particularly as it applies to our explorations of books and their makers, users, collectors, readers, and others — through our series of workshops and other events — and as we prepare for next year and its new theme.
- Thresholds and Communities: RGME Theme for the Year 2025
Poster 2. 2025 Autumn Colloquium. Poster set in RGME Bembino.
Also, because the 2025 RGME Autumn Colloquium in late November will consider the subject of Fragments (manuscript and printed) from many perspectives, we may discuss some discoveries from that event and follow up with more materials which it helped to bring to light.
Hint. See:
- A Little Latin Vulgate Manuscript Leaf in Princeton
- A Sister Leaf from a Miniature Latin Vulgate Bible
For example, do you have any manuscript or printed fragments that you would like to share or learn about? Bring them along, please, to our Zoom Meeting. Let’s see what we might learn together, and share the delights of discovery.
Registration
See you there!
Illumination from Hildegard’s Scivias (1151) showing her receiving a vision and dictating to teacher Volmar. Image Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
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Questions? Suggestions?
- Leave your comments or questions below
- Contact Us
Visit our Social Media:
- our FaceBook Page (https://www.facebook.com/people/Research-Group-on-Manuscript-Evidence/100064718795029/)
- our Facebook Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/rgmemss/)
- our X/Twitter Feed (@rgme_mss)
- our Bluesky nest @rgmesocial.bluesky.social)
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Join the Friends of the RGME.
Please make a Donation in Funds or in Kind for our nonprofit educational corporation powered principally by volunteers. Your donations and contributions are welcome, and can go a long way. They may be tax-deductible to the fullest extent provided by the law.
*****
2025 RGME Visit to Vassar College
March 2, 2025 in Uncategorized
2025 RGME Visit
to Vassar College
Medieval & Renaissance
Manuscripts & Cuttings
at
The Archives & Special Collections Library
and
The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center
Sunday 4 May 2025
4:00 – 6:00 pm
and
Monday 5 May 2025
11:00 am – 4:30 pm
In person and Online by Zoom
Approach to Main Library, Vassar College. Photograph by Mildred Budny.
[Posted on 1 March 2025, with updates]
Inspired by the 2024 RGME Spring Symposium at Vassar College, we return in May for a visit to its collections.
This time, we will see some of its Medieval & Renaissance manuscripts, fragments, and cuttings. These manuscript materials at Vassar are held in the
We will visit both, with lunch in between. An RGME Roundtable discussion will follow the afternoon visit.
In addition, at each location, undergraduate students or a new member of the faculty for the Art Department will speak about their work on some of the manuscript materials. They will present new discoveries, with the chance to see the original materials themselves.
Save-the-Date Poster for 2024 RGME Spring Symposium at Vassar College. Poster set in RGME Bembino.
Prequel:
Our 2024 Spring Symposium
Some of these materials were considered in presentations at the 2024 Spring Symposium; some were displayed at the special exhibition, where we could see them on view. See:
- Books of the Middle Ages and and Renaissance (April 19–June 23, 2024)
At the first Reception of the Symposium, Vassar undergraduate students described their work on several of them to prepare for this exhibition.
Coinciding with the Symposium was the publication of the new catalogue of these materials.
- Catalogue of Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts at Vassar College, Including the Nicholas B. Scheetz Collection and the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, compiled by Peter Kidd (Vassar College, 2024)
ISBN 9798218363758
2025 RGME Visit to Vassar
Our 2025 RGME In-Person/Hybrid Visit will take place on Monday 5 May. There will be a preliminary session on Sunday 4 May.
We invite you to attend either:
- in person (places are limited due to space) or
- online.
The RGME will provide online and interactive access by Zoom, to allow a wider audience to join us for an interactive Zoom Meeting.
For Registration information, see below.
A Centerpoint for the RGME’s 2025 Activities
The plan for this visit connects with the RGME theme of collectors and collecting for our events this year, and also for our work on manuscript fragments.
For the various events, held online and in various locations as in-person/hybrid events, see:
Spring (Part 1 of 2)
“Makers, Producers, and Collectors of Books:
From Author/Artist/Artisan to Library” (28–30 March online)
Autumn (Part 2 of 2)
“Readers, Fakers, and Re-Creators of Books:
From Page to Marketplace and Beyond” (17–19 October online or hybrid)
- 2025 Autumn Colloquium at the University of Waterloo. (21–23 November hybrid)
“Break-Up Books and Make-Up Books:
Encountering and Reconstructing the Legacy
of Otto F. Ege and Other Biblioclasts”
Plan/Program
Overview
Sunday 4 May
- The afternoon before the full day’s visit, a preliminary session (hybrid) at 4:00–5:30 pm EDT offers the chance to gather at the Murphy Room of the Art Library for Martha Frish’s presentation on “The Symbols of Vassar Architecture”. This presentation gives an update from her Post-Symposium Presentation last year. (See 2024 Spring Symposium.)
- For the location of the Murphy Room, see Maps and Call Numbers, Art Library
Monday 5 May
- In the morning we will visit the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center (on its closed day), to see some of its manuscripts and manuscript cuttings.
- Lunch will be held in its Sculpture Garden (or inside in case of inclement weather).
- After lunch, we will visit the Frederick Ferris Thompson Memorial Library (Main Library), to see some of its manuscript materials held in the Archives & Special Collections Library.
- Then we will move to the Seminar Room in Special Collections to hold a Roundtable discussion. We may continue conversation about the materials, compare notes, and reflect on the day.
- For drinks and dinner, we would go to a local restaurant, for repasts at our own expense.
Speakers include:
Benjamin Garrity (Vassar Class of 2027)
Tara Peterson (Vassar Class of 2025)
Both John P. Murphy and Ronald D. Patkus will speak about the materials in the Art Center.
Rachel Wise, Professor of Art, will speak about her study of one of the most important manuscripts in its collection.
Ronald Patkus will speak about provenance for materials in both the Art Center and Special Collections.
Two Vassar students will speak about the art of materials in Special Collections:
Benjamin Garrity (Class of ’27) will speak about the Loeb Book of Hours.
Tara Peterson (Class of ’25) will speak about the Spanish Forger.
The showcased items in the two collections comprise: an album of collected initials; selected Books of Hours; and a leaf illustrated in medieval style by the prolific and renowned Spanish Forger. On hand, by request, at the session on Special Collections, might be its leaf from the Saint Albans Bible, a dismembered manuscript being researched by the RGME because of a current loan. (See below.)
Program
1. Sunday 4 May
Afternoon: 4:00–5:30 pm EDT (GMT-4)
The hybrid RGME Visit opens with a presentation by Martha Frish on Sunday afternoon, when she will speak about
“Some Symbols in the Architecture at Vassar College.” Her illustrated presentation will highlight features of the campus which distinguish it from many American colleges. By examining many of the buildings in their architectural settings, both in their landscape and in their historical periods, demonstrates the ways in which Vassar represents a physical documentation of the architectural history of the United States.
As an introduction to the RGME Visit to the College all day on Monday 5 May, this ‘tour’ sets the scene by locating the visit within the physical space of the collections at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center and Special Collections of the Frederick Ferris Thompson Memorial Library. Martha’s invitation to examine the buildings and their own settings offers a companion to the ways in which readers, students, and beholders would at the manuscript sources in these collections, in order to discover more of their meanings and stories of their own.
This special presentation will take place in person in the
To register for this portion of the Visit, please use these links:
“The Quad as Exterior Room”. Photograph of the Residential Quad by Martha Frish (2016).
2. Monday 5 May
Morning
10:30–11:30
Art Center, Seminar Room
We would meet by 10:30 am in the Entrance Lobby of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center . Note that the Art Center is otherwise closed on Mondays.
Our visit allows us to see some of its manuscripts and manuscript cuttings. They include materials not normally on show.
Both John P. Murphy and Ronald D. Patkus will speak about the materials. Rachel Wise, Professor of Art, will speak about her study of one of the most important manuscripts in the collection.
They will demonstrate 1) an album of cuttings of choice portions from manuscripts (such as illuminated initials) and 2) a Book of Hours. These monuments are:
1. Album of Cuttings, 15th century (Loeb 864.2.242-864.2.258)
Seventeen cuttings with illuminated initials, removed from an Alphabetical Index (so far unidentified). Germany, 15th century.
Other contents include drawings of architectural features, copies of paintings, and copies of manuscript illuminations and marginalia from medieval manuscripts now in Oxford, London, and Salisbury Cathedral. Some of those manuscripts have been the subjects of RGME seminars.
Catalogue, pp. 246–249 (with plate on p. 246)
See also Object: Manuscript
See also Object: Manuscript
John Murphy will speak about the initials, Ronald Patkus about provenance, and then we will have discussion.
2. Book of Hours, 15th century (Loeb 1994.2.2)
Book of Hours of Jean Olivier, Bishop of Angers (bishop from 1532–1540), for the Use of Rome, in Latin and French. France: Paris? Circa 1510–1540 or 1510–1520.
Artist: Jean Pichore (French, active c. 1501–1520)
Catalogue, pp. 266–269 (with plate on p. 267)
See also The Melun-Epinoy Hours
Catalogue, pp. 266–269 (with plate on p. 267)
See also The Melun-Epinoy Hours
Rachel Wise, Professor of Art, will speak about the art of the manuscript, Ronald Patkus about provenance, and then we will have discussion.
The Melun-Épinoy Hours, opened to Annunciation scene. c. 1501–1520. Image: Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College
12:00–1:00 pm
Lunch
Lunch will take place in the outdoor Sculpture Garden. In case of inclement weather, we will go inside.
Afternoon
After lunch we will move to the Frederick Ferris Thompson Memorial Library (Main Library).
The first afternoon session, showcasing materials in Special Collections, will take place in the Class of 1951 Reading Room.
The second afternoon session, featuring a RGME Roundtable discussion, will take place in the Seminar Room of Special Collections (which closes at 4:30 pm).
1:00–2:00 pm
Spotlight on Special Collections
Class of 1951 Reading Room
Selected materials from Special Collections will be available for examination and discussion.
Ronald D. Patkus will speak about the materials. Students of both Ronald and Rachel Wise will speak about their work 1) on a leaf by The Spanish Forger, a notorious and prolific producer active in the late-nineteenth and/or early twentieth century, probably in Paris; and 2) on the Loeb Book of Hours.
3. Leaf 42, 14th and 19th/20th centuries
Single leaf as a cutting, reused.
Text on one side from an Antiphonary. Italy, 14th century
Painted image on the other. The image depicts an encounter outside a walled city between a solder and a lady, each with retinue. France, late 19th or early 20th century.
Painted image on the other. The image depicts an encounter outside a walled city between a solder and a lady, each with retinue. France, late 19th or early 20th century.
Artist: The Spanish Forger. (Active France, late 19th or early 20th century)
Catalogue, pp. 107–109 (with plate on p. 108)
Catalogue, pp. 107–109 (with plate on p. 108)
4. Book of Hours, 15th century (MS. 6)
Book of Hours for the Use of Paris, in Latin and French
Catalogue, pp. 21–14 (with plate on p. 13)
Catalogue, pp. 21–14 (with plate on p. 13)
Students will speak about their work on these materials; Ronald Patkus will speak about the provenance; and there will be scope for discussion.
2:00–2:30 pm
Break
3:30–4:00 pm
RGME Roundtable
“Looking at Manuscripts and Collections”
Collection of Jennah Farrell, Vulgate Bible Leaf, Recto. Photography by Mildred Budny.
This occasion offers the opportunity to share reflections about the materials demonstrated on our visit to both the Art Center and Main Library. Several of us might describe our research on some of them or relatives to them. We would consider their bearing on subjects which the RGME considers this year in its variety of events and projects.
1. Manuscript Fragments:
Challenges and Opportunities for Research
For example, recently the RGME has been examining the Farrell Leaf and the Weber Leaf from the Saint Albans Bible, dismembered directly after sale in 1964 and widely distributed thereafter frequently through sale rooms. The original manuscript, a single-volume Latin Vulgate Bible, was produced in France, probably Paris, circa 1330-1340. See our Workshops on “The Evidence of Manuscripts, Etc.”
A leaf from the same book belongs to Vassar College. It is part of the Nicholas B. Scheetz Collection of Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts (Scheetz MS 27). About this leaf, see the entry in the recent catalogue:
- Catalogue of Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts at Vassar College, compiled by Peter Kidd (Vassar College, 2024), p. 217.
It could be useful to compare notes about these relatives which formerly stood within the same covers of a single-volume Latin Vulgate Bible. Whereas many leaves known from the original manuscript in a variety of collections belong to the Old and New Testament portions of the Bible, the Vassar leaf from the Scheetz Collection belongs to part of the textual apparatus of the Interpretation of Hebrew Names in glossary form, arranged alphabetically, and specifically from within the section for terms beginning with the letter B.
Collection of Richard Weber, Leaf from the Saint Albans Bible, Recto: Top Right. Photograph by Richard Weber.
2. Provenance: A Perennial Quest
Other subjects under consideration this year by the RGME fall into the sphere of the Visit to Vassar’s collections. Among them are issues of provenance for the objects, whether known, detectable, or unknown. Such issues can form an important part of the history of their transmission and, perhaps, of legitimacy, as in the case of forgeries.
Our roundtable might mention various points of contact between the visit and our other events for this year, which have led to the selection of objects to examine. The Vassar Visit stands poised between them:
- our Spring and Autumn Symposia which explore aspects of “Agents and Agencies” in the realms of books
2025 Spring and Autumn Symposia - our sessions on “Manuscripts at Worlds of Knowledge” at the 2025 International Medieval Congress at Leeds
2025 International Medieval Congress at Leeds: RGME Program - our Autumn Colloquium on “Break-Up Books and Make-Up Books: Encountering and Reconstructing the Legacy of Otto F. Ege and Other Biblioclasts”
2025 RGME Autumn Colloquium at the University of Waterloo
The design of the Visit, selected by Ronald Patkus and John Murphey, responds thoughtfully and expertly to these shared interests for collective exploration in 2025.
Reception
A Reception will close the day’s visit.
Celebratory Reception
5:00–7:30 pm EDT
Class of 1951 Reading Room
We celebrate the visit, the sharing of expertise and experiences in studying the original sources at Vassar, and the generosity of the curators, donors, contributors, organizers, hosts, and student interns. We invite you to join us.
Dinner
Afterward, we would go to a local restaurant for drinks and/or dinner (at our own expense). There, we could continue conversation in the company of people interested in books, their care, their study, their ability to teach, their stories, and their delight.
Information for Visiting Vassar
For information on travel, directions, campus maps, accommodation, dining, and other features in the area, see:
A photo of the Thompson Library at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, taken by me [Noteremote] on November 2, 2007. via Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thompson_Library_(Vassar_College).jpg.
Registration
You can register for the RGME Vassar Visit through the RGME Eventbrite Portal. See:
There you will be able to register to attend either in person or online.
We encourage you to make a Voluntary Donation when you register. It will help to support our small nonprofit educational organization powered principally by volunteers.
1. Sunday 4 May 2025
To register for the preliminary presentation on Sunday afternoon, please use these links:
2. Monday 5 May 2025
To register for the Visit to the Art Center and the Main Library on Monday 5 May, please use these links:
1) In-Person Visit
For in-person attendance, space is limited. In registering for in-person attendance, for the catering you will be given the opportunity to indicate any dietary requirements.
2025 RGME Visit to Vassar College IN PERSON
2) Online Visit
For online attendance, once you register, the Zoom Link will be sent to you shortly before the event.
2025 RGME Visit to Vassar College ONLINE
Thank you for your interest and support. We look forward to welcoming you.
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Thanks
For arranging this visit, we thank:
- Ronald D. Patkus, Head of Special Collections and College Historian, Adjunct Associate Professor of History on the Frederick Weyerhaeuser Chair
- John P. Murphy, Philip and Lynn Straus Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center
We thank the speakers for their contributions to share their work on manuscript materials at Vassar College: Rachel Wise, Ronald Patkus, John Murphy, and Vassar students Ben Gerrity and Tara Peterson. Thanks go to Thomas E. Hill, Art Librarian, for arranging the visit to the Murphy Room, to Francine Brown of the Art Center, and Amanda Burdine. Thanks go to the 2025 RGME Visit Student Interns for help behind the scenes: Betsy Subiros (Class of 2025), Anna Gilsdorf, and Rachel Stanger (Class of 2027).
We give thanks to the staff and others at Vassar College for this visit.
We look forward to the visit. You are invited to join, whether in person or virtually.
*****
Questions or Suggestions?
Please let us know.
- Leave your comments or questions below
- Contact Us
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Join the Friends of the RGME
Please make a Donation in Funds or in Kind for our nonprofit educational corporation powered principally by volunteers. Your donations and contributions are welcome, and can go a long way. They may be tax-deductible to the fullest extent provided by the law.
We look forward to seeing you and welcoming you to our events.
*****
Two Example Pages, Described and Analyzed
January 18, 2025 in Uncategorized
Two Example Pages
Described and Analyzed
As companion to the RGME Workshops on “The Evidence of Manuscripts, Etc.” (Also Known as “Looking at Original Sources”), launched in 2024, we present a case setting out the stages of looking at the pages of two medieval manuscripts.
As part of the “RGME Lending Library,” these two pages have been introduced in a blogpost soon after we first encountered them, as they stand in their archival modern frames which turn the backs of the leaves to the covered back of the frame. Our examination proceeds by the pages which are revealed to us. For the story so far, see:
We now prepare a RGME Research Booklet to demonstrate the steps and present the results of the investigation which they enable. This Booklet and demonstration build upon the foundation principles of the RGME Workshops, described here:
Watch This Space.
We invite you to attend the Workshops:
All are welcome, including experts and beginners alike. Given the range of materials and original sources to explore, and the fields of expertise or experience which they call for, it is perhaps unlikely that anyone might be expert in everything under examination.
There might be something to learn, and the range of materials can pertain to a very wide range of interests, medieval and more.
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2025 DMSI at Cambridge & Boston
December 29, 2024 in Uncategorized
Third Annual
Digital Manuscript Studies Institute: DMSI 2025
Cambridge & Boston, Massachusetts
19 March 2025, 8:30 am – 7:00 pm EST (GMT-5)
Organizers: Laura K. Morreale and N. Kıvılcım Yavuz
DMSI 2025 Logo and QR Code
[Posted on 29 December 2024]
DMSI 2025 Banner
The third annual Digital Medieval Studies Institute (DMSI) in March 2025 presents a one-day program featuring workshops on digital scholarly methods specifically tailored for medievalists. Organized by Laura K. Morreale and N. Kıvılcım Yavuz, it takes place in cooperation with
DMSI 2025 Flyer
- Harvard University,
- Boston College,
- McMullen Museum of Art,
- Digital Medievalist, and
- the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence (RGME).
Information for DMSI 2025
- printable Flyer (see right)
DMSI 2025 flyer
- application form
- registration (see below)
All registered participants will be charged a fee of $100 to participate in DMSI 2025. A small bursary will be offered for 5 participants (one per class) to cover the participation fee; the bursary is needs-based. For instructions to apply to the full-day program, to present a lightning talk, or to apply for a bursary, see below.
For registration to attend the full-day program, see below.
DMSI 2025 Flyer: Call for Participation
Program
Plenary Lecture
Gabriel Pizzorno
(Senior Preceptor on History and Faculty Chair,
Digital Scholarship Support Group, Harvard University)
“Building on Solid Foundations:
The Importance of Data Structures to Digital Scholarship”
Lightening Talks
Lightning talks will be presented by a selected number of participants.
Send your proposals!
For the lightning talks, workshop participants can propose a short presentation (lightning talk) on any aspect of digital medieval studies, such as an ongoing project, a methodology, or a specific research finding; the topic of the lightning talk does not have to be the same as the workshop in which the participant enrolls. Participants will be able to present a lightning talk only if they are accepted to attend the full-day program.
Lunch
Workshops
Five separate concurrent workshops, each with a total teaching time of 4 hours, will address a variety of topics and techniques.
A maximum of 8-10 participants will be accepted into each workshop. It will only be possible to enroll in one workshop.
1) “Rendering Spaces Virtually Using Photogrammetry”
(Rachel Chamberlain)
Participants will explore the various uses of photogrammetry, particularly in capturing interiors to display virtually. You will learn to photograph a space, stitch it together, and layer multiple forms of media on top to provide a rich, immersive experience to digital visitors.
2) “Rendering 3D Artifacts for Virtual Exhibits Using Photogrammetry”
(Antonio LoPiano)
Photogrammetry is a powerful and flexible technology for the capturing, digitization, and visualization of 3D artifacts, especially in the context of rendering them for use in virtual exhibits or repositories. Participants will learn how to capture images of an artifact, use the Metashape photogrammetry software to process images, and export the resulting models for use in virtual environments.
3) “Mapping Humanities: The Medieval Version”
(Kahil Sawan)
This workshop explores various mapping methods used in medieval digital humanities. Participants will be introduced to GIS (Geographic Information Systems), geo-referencing, and spatial data. You will learn how to use tools that will enable you to integrate geography and digital mapping into your own research projects.
4) “Networking Old English Charters Using Gephi”
(David Thomas)
Network analysis enables scholars to untangle patterns of relationships in historical documents whose complexity is beyond human comprehension. Participants will use the network analysis tool Gephi to analyze and visualize the relationships of over 2,500 individuals who appear in over 500 charters from Old English kingdoms, from the seventh to the ninth centuries, zeroing in on major figures.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University, Houghton Library: Exterior view (2014). Harvard Public Affairs and Communications, Harvard University, Copyrighted free use, via Wikimedia Commons
5) “Digitizing Manuscripts”
(Anthony Harris & Sara Powell)
In this interactive workshop on the essentials of manuscript digitization, participants will learn how to capture the textual and material aspects of medieval fragments. You will gain hands-on experience working with Houghton Library’s fragments, collaborating to select, describe, scan, and prepare items for upload to a digital repository.
— This workshop will take place at the Houghton Library.
DMSI 2025: List of Workshops
Reception at the McMullen Museum of Art of Boston College
Boston, Boston College, McMullen Museum of Art, Exterior. Photograph by BCLicious (2018), CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Applications and Instructions
Preference will be given to applicants who demonstrate how they plan to apply what they learn in their research, teaching, or professional practice.
We are offering a small bursary for 5 participants (one per class) to cover the participation fee; the bursary is needs-based.
For the application, you will need to supply:
- Contact information
- Two-paragraph statement of interest specifying the three workshops you are most interested in participating (in order of preference) and explaining how you plan to incorporate the skills and knowledge gained at DMSI into your current work.
- Concise CV (maximum 1 page).
Optional
- Proposal to give a Lightning Talk
If you wish to propose a short presentation, please send a title and a 200-word abstract.
- Application for a Bursary
If you wish to apply for a bursary, please send a brief indication of financial need (no documentation, please). The bursary will cover the $100 cost of participation ONLY. No funds are available for travel or accommodation.
Due Date for Applications
Note that the first round of applications are due by 30 January 2025.
DMSI 2025 Flyer: Instructions
Registration
The fee to attend the 2025 Meeting of the DMSI in Cambridge/Boston is $100 US. (The cost of lodging or travel is not included.) To apply for a needs-based bursary to cover this fee, see above.
Please register through the RGME Eventbrite Registration Portal:
In registering, please indicate your first, second, and third choices of workshop you would like to attend; spaces are limited. Please also indicate any dietary restrictions.
Issues with registering for the event? Please contact the RGME via rgmesocial@gmail.com.
Questions?
Do you have questions about the event and applications for it?
Please contact the organizers via dmsihello@gmail.com.
DMSI 2025 Logo and QR Code
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BembinoWP for Word Processing
December 28, 2024 in Uncategorized
Welcome to BembinoWP
A Special Edition
of our Multi-Lingual Digital Font
for use with Microsoft Word
and other Word-Processing Programs
[Posted on 27 December 2024, with updates]
By request, our own Multi-Lingual Digital Font Bembino now has a special edition which can be used with Microsoft Word.
RGME Bembino
Are you familiar with our RGME font Bembino, years in the making, and available freely for anyone to use, for commercial or non-commercial uses alike? You can see it in action here on our official website and in our Publications, both digital and traditional, since its inception. Over the years, responding to requests, the font has grown with support for more languages and improvements.
You can download it here, with its explanatory booklet describing the font and its origin.
- Bembino (Version 6.0)
Another booklet displays specimens of Bembino set for a wide range of languages, Western and non-Western.
More Developments for Bembino
in the 2024 RGME Anniversary Year
2) Elvish
Responding to a request in 2023, our Font Designer has created support for the imaginary Elvish languages in a Bembino font for its Tengwar script.
Continuing to develop support for languages already embraced in Bembino, in June we announced some more fonts for non-Western languages.
3) Reid Byers’ Imaginary Books set in Bembino
In November the first full-length book using Bembino was published, as the font preferred by its author, our Associate Reid Byers, for the catalogue of his exhibition now on display at The Grolier Club in New York City (December 5, 2024 – February 15, 2025).
- Imaginary Books: Lost, Unfinished, and Fictive Works Found Only in Other Books (New Castle, DE and Paris: Oak Knoll Books and Le Club Fortsas, 2024). ISBN: 1584563966 / ISBN: 9781584563969
See also, for example,
We are thrilled to see Reid’s book and exhibition. He gave the RGME a preview of his extraordinary collection of “Imaginary Books” and the exhibition for our 2024 Autumn Symposium in October. His Abstract and companion image in the Symposium Booklet reports his approach and shows a specimen page from his catalogue, set in Bembino.
Reid’s book was designed by Matthew Young and published by Oak Knoll Press and the Club Fortas. We congratulate them for the achievement, which brings instruction, the sense of wonder, and delight.
And Now There Is BembinoWP for Word
In December, BembinoWP came into the world. For years, people have asked for a version to use with Microsoft Word. Now, after long efforts to resolve the issues which that program presents to others’ fonts, our Font Designer has completed a version of Bembino specifically for this purpose, with its own name.
We invite you to try it out.
Instructions for the file for downloading:
Rename the file to .zip, then extract, and install.
Read the .pdf first.
Please let us know what you think, if you find it useful, and what corrections or improvements you think it could have.
Launch for Bembino WP
25 March 2026!
See:
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Latin Vulgate Bible Leaf in the Collection of Jennah Farrell, Part 2
November 7, 2024 in Manuscript Studies, Uncategorized
The Latin Vulgate Bible Leaf
in the Collection of Jennah Farrell
Part 2: Provenance
Single Leaf from the Book of Numbers, within Frame
Laid out in double columns of 46 lines in Gothic Script
Visible area within mat:
maximum circa 24.1 cm. tall × 16.3 cm. wide
(circa 9 7/8 in. tall × 6 7/8 in. wide)
< ruled writing area
circa 18.7 × 12.5 cm. (circa 7 3/4 × 4 7/8 in.)>
[Posted on 6 November 2024, with updates]
Collection of Jennah Farrell, Manuscript Leaf in Mat: top left. Photograph by Jennah Farrrell.
Part 2 in our blogposts about a “New Loan” to the RGME “Lending Library” from the Collection of Jennah Farrell examines the evidence for the provenance of the Latin Bible leaf once it reached her collection. Removing the leaf from its frame waits for a next stage (Part 3).
Part 1 introduced the leaf by examining the span of text and accompanying features on the visible side of the leaf, from the decorated initials and chapter numbers to the full-page vertical bars with extended foliate ornament.
The visible features establish that this side was the original recto.
Besides the evidence provided by the frame and its backing paper, mounts, and hanging wire, the nature of the acquisition (the ‘find place’ in archaeological terms) affords information about the former owner and its place in that former collection. Jennah has provided those details from the circumstances of the purchase and her explorations to discover more about the leaf, its identity, and its potential value.
This quest led her to loan the leaf to the RGME and to permit its study, photography, and publication, for which we are grateful. The process, integrated with the on-going work of the RGME in the course of its activities through its 2024 Anniversary Year, gives the opportunity for teaching as the research unfolds.
Visit to the Collection of Steven Lomazow, M.D.
October 3, 2024 in Announcements, Event Registration, Manuscript Studies, Uncategorized, Visits to Collections
RGME Visit to the
Collection of
Dr. Steven M. Lomazow
of American Magazines
and Other Sources
Saturday 16 November 2024
In-person visit,
with hybrid component
for an online virtual visit (by Zoom)
“I can read you like a magazine”
— Taylor Swift, Blank Space (2014)
[Posted on 1 October 2024, with updates]
The Periodical Collection of Steven Lomazov, St. Nicholas: Scribner’s Illustrated Magazine for Girls and Boys, Front Cover (November 1873), via https://www.americanmagazinecollection.com/st-nicholas-scribners-illustrated-magazine-for-girls-and-boys-2/.
By special invitation, the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence prepares to visit the private collection of Dr. Steven M. Lomazow — neurologist, book-collector, member of The Grolier Club, author, bibliographer, raconteur, and curator of exhibitions from his collection assembled over half a century. By design, this in-person visit by the RGME to his home in West Orange, New Jersey, might gather other Princeton bibliophiles and students, as our organization combines interests, resources, and organizational skills with other groups in the Princeton area and beyond, according with our traditions for in-person and online events alike.
Mindful also of responsibility to our wider audience, as customary, the RGME will provide a hybrid approach to this occasion, with a virtual component for part of the curated visit, so that parts of our wider community might attend from a distance by Zoom allowing for discussion and feedback.
Grateful for the invitation, we look forward to the visit with its opportunity for a curated tour of an extraordinary collection for many interests assembled over more than fifty years.
The Plan on the Day
We aim to arrive at the Lomazow Collection about 11:00 or 11:30 am EST (GMT-5), mindful of traffic conditions between our base at Princeton (or elsewhere for other attendees) and the location of the collection. The online component of the visit might commence at about 12:30 pm, in time for the introduction to the collection.
First, Dr. Lomazow and his wife will host a welcoming repast catered at home from a renowned bagel shop. We would ask attendees for dietary requirements.
Next, Steven will give an introduction to the collection, the materials, and their discoveries. This account would set the stage by describing the collection, how it grew, what it contains, how widely it reaches into spheres of history, literature, popular culture, and more, and how it is arranged — by groups of materials and by their size, each in alphabetical order for ease of discovery and consultation.
Then we would be able to visit the different rooms, examine their original materials, ask questions, and enter into conversations about the varied aspects of these original sources and their contexts. Thus we might learn from the materials and from each other while engaging with the original sources. Whether in person or virtually, we might count those encounters in real time as Break Out Rooms for the visit, with tailored focus for specific items, genres, and subjects.
We would end at about 5:00 pm, although perhaps some of us might remain for discussion until about 7:00 pm. The span is subject to exploration governed by numbers and interests of attendees.
For transportation from Princeton and back again, we could explore alternatives. Depending on interest and timetables, some of us might wish to drive; depending on numbers, transportation might be arranged. Please let us know your preferences and watch this space for developments as the preparations advance.
What would you like to see? Given this generous opportunity, it might be difficult to single out specific magazines, dates, or genres, because the range of the collection is so extraordinarily varied, with something for almost everyone’s taste, and with very much for historical and cultural study. What might you choose?
The Collector
Steven Lomazow, M.D., is a board-certified neurologist in practice for 43 years.
His published works on bibliophilic and related subjects include series of reference works, celebrations of the collection, and monographs on presidential medical-historical subjects.
Looking forward to conversations with and feedback from our varied audience, both expert and general, Dr. Lomazow offers this special occasion with the RGME for opportunities to examine his varied collections and learn about them, in conversation with the knowledgeable collector. A variety of publications, in print and online, present the materials and reference perspectives on their context.
Books, Blogs, Catalogues, Exhibitions, and Virtual Exhibitions
-
- Magazines and the American Experience:
Highlights from the Collection of Steven Lomazow, M.D.
americanmagazinecollection.com
- Magazines and the American Experience:
- American Periodicals: A Collectors’ Guide and Reference Manual (West Orange, New Jersey: Lomazow, 1996)
- The Great American Magazine: Adventures in History. Selections from The Steven Lomazow Collection of American Periodicals (West Orange, New Jersey: Lomazow, 2014)
- Steven Lomazow et al., Magazines and the American Experience: Highlights from the Collection of Steven Lomazow, M.D. A Catalogue published in conjunction with an exhibition held at The Grolier Club, January 20 – April 24, 2021 (New York: The Grolier Club, 2020).
“The exhibition is presented in two sections, beginning with a chronological history of American magazines from 1733 to the present. The second is devoted to a broad spectrum of genres which address the areas of popular culture that became a major focus of American magazines in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including American artists and humorists, the ongoing struggle of African Americans to achieve equality, a salute to our national game of baseball, and the development of radio, television, and motion pictures.”
- Companion Virtual Exhibition at the Grolier Club: American Magazines
Also:
- Steven Lomazow (with Eric Fettman), FDR’s Deadly Secret (New York: BBS Publications, 2009)
- FDR Unmasked: 73 Years of Medical Cover-ups That Rewrote History (Amsterdam: Lugler Publications, revised edition, 2024). FDRUNMASKED.com
What is in Store?
Dr. Steven puts it succinctly. The collection contains
“Thousands of exquisitely rare and historically important items.
“The collection contains virtually every major magazine highlight ever published from the eighteenth century to the present and covers virtually every topic- literature, politics, technology (TV, Radio, Movies, Aviation etc). It also includes by far the largest collection of first issue pulp magazines (over 850) in existence. Any institution or individual that acquires it will immediately become one of the leading repositories of American popular culture. . . . There are hundreds of feet of shelves occupied by bound volumes and individual issues.”
— Magazine Collection for Sale (2011)
Many items are destined for exhibition and perhaps transfer to other institutions. This visit offers an in-depth opportunity to examine them on display in situ in the company of the collector, who has built an exceptional collection of a variety of genres, including American magazines from their beginnings, patriotic magazines in World War II, and more.
Registration
Registration is required for attendance, whether in person or online by Zoom. Numbers of attendees for the at-home visit are limited; in case of need, we will create a Waiting List.
Registration is free. We welcome voluntary donations for our section 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization equipped with slim financial resources and powered principally by volunteers with donations in funds and contributions in kind. Such donations help to sustain and foster our mission and activities. Your donations may be tax-deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law.
Please register through the RGME Eventbrite Portal, which presents all our Collections of events. Here are the ways to register for the visit in hybrid formats.
1) To attend In Person
2) To attend Online by Zoom
After you register for online attendance, you will be sent the Zoom Link a few days before the event.
Questions or Suggestions?
Do you have special requests for materials you would like to see in the collection during the visit? Questions for the collector? Would you like to share your experiences with growing up with American magazines?
Please Contact Us or visit
- our FaceBook Page
- our Facebook Group
- our Twitter Feed (@rgme_mss)
- our Bluesky nest @rgmesocial.bluesky.social)
- our LinkedIn Group
- our Blog on Manuscript Studies and its Contents List
We look forward to hearing from you.
*****
Update: Having successfully accomplished the visit, we offer a report. See
See also:
We give thanks to Dr. Lomazow, his wife Suze Bienaimee, the SFPUL, Jacqueline Zhou, Kurt Lemai, our online audience, and others for a wonderful collective experience.
The Periodical Collection of Steven Lomazov, St. Nicholas: Scribner’s Illustrated Magazine for Girls and Boys, Front Cover (November 1873), via https://www.americanmagazinecollection.com/st-nicholas-scribners-illustrated-magazine-for-girls-and-boys-2/.
Note on the Image. The long-lived St. Nicholas Magazine was launched in 1873, with the redoubtable Mary Mapes Dodge (1831–1905) as its first editor and many prominent authors as contributors during its period of circulation until 1940. From the Lomazow Collection, we glimpse the cover of the first issue.
Of the editor’s skills it is related:
She was able to persuade many of the great writers of the world to contribute to her children’s magazine – Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Cullen Bryant, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., Bret Harte, John Hay, Charles Dudley Warner, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward, and scores of others. One day, Rudyard Kipling told her a story of the Indian jungle; Dodge asked him to write it down for St. Nicholas. He never had written for children, but he would try. The result was The Jungle Book.
Of especial interest to the RGME in its Anniversary Year is the first appearance in this magazine of the tale of The Little Red Hen, in its original form in a publication in English. This fable, in its original unadulterated form, serves as useful model for the RGME as goal for collaborative work and its practices or processes.
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RGME Fundraising and Donor Relations: SOP
April 30, 2024 in Uncategorized
RGME
Fundraising and Donor Relations:
Statement of Operating Procedures (SOP)
Version 1.2
(Posted on 29 April 2024)
Contents
Purpose
Scope
Fundraising
Annual Appeal Letter
Facebook Birthday Fundraiser
MightyCause “Giving Tuesday” and Other Fundraisers
Eventbrite
Grants
Estate Gifts
Fundraising Expenses
Endowment
Constable Fund
Donor Relations
Thank-You Notes
Tax-Deductible Receipts
Privacy Policy
Donor Promise
Donor Tiers
Donor Contact Information
Purpose
This document sets out the processes and procedures by which the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence (RGME) performs fundraising and donor relations activities.
Scope
This document applies to all fundraising and donor relations activities undertaken by the RGME or those acting on the behalf of the RGME, including but not limited to our Director, Trustees, Associates, Volunteers, Friends, Contractors, and Vendors.
Fundraising
RGME Website
The official RGME website describes our fundraising goals, offers portals for online donations in funds, and provides a downloadable donation form for other methods such as by cash or check. (See Donations and Donations and Contributions.)
The RGME also welcomes donations in kind, in non-cash contributions and pro-bono contributions.
Annual Appeal Letter
Every year, the Director or designate shall form an ad hoc group of trustees or also others to draft an appeal letter. The Research Group will draft an appeal letter and the Director, in consultation, will approve the final draft. The Director or designate will form a list of donors and potential donors and mail or email a copy of the appeal letter to each donor address on file. The timing will aim for mid-November for annual appeals, whilst other occasions, purposes, or donors’ habits could call for similar approaches, as required. (See the 2024 Anniversary Appeal and 2024 Anniversary Endowment Appeal.)
The appeal letter contains information about what the Group does and what the Group is requesting money for. A supplement may provide details for donors wishing further information.
The appeal letter and the donation form/portal will provide donors the option to set up a regular/recurring donation (e.g. annually, quarterly, or monthly), and for gifts or bequests of funds or other instruments.
Facebook Birthday Fundraiser
The Director or designate will run annually a Facebook Birthday Fundraiser, as prompted by Facebook.
MightyCause “Giving Tuesday” and other Fundraisers
The Director or designate will run a MightyCause fundraiser annually for Giving Tuesday Fundraisers, as prompted by MightyCause, or other fundraisers through MightyCause as occasions arise.
Anniversary or other Appeals
For some occasions or purposes, such as RGME Anniversaries or Anniversary Years, specific needs, or Designated Funds (Endowment, Constable Fund, or others as they are created), the Director or designate will run fundraisers in their aid. The letter will be prepared by the Director or designate in consultation with donors, relevant RGME committees, or others. The timing would co-ordinate with the specific need or fund.
Eventbrite
Online events will include a fundraising link using the Eventbrite donation feature.
Grants
On an ad hoc basis, no less than one per calendar year, the Director or designate will determine which grants the RGME ought to apply for, and will prepare and submit grant applications, or direct others to do so, in collaboration and/or consultation.
Estate Gifts
For donors of X tier and above, the Director or designate will have a conversation no less than annually about whether the donor wishes to include a charitable gift to the RGME in their will (unless the donor has expressed a desire not to have this conversation).
For donors who have indicated their intention to leave a charitable gift, the Director or designate will touch base with them every five years to gather info to update our records about what is planned for the charitable gift.
Fundraising Expenses
Customarily the RGME spends no more than $850 per year on fundraising.
The RGME will not hire fundraisers. The work of fundraising will proceed by volunteers.
Endowment
The Endowment Fund at present is kept in a savings account. As it grows, the RGME will revise its management appropriately.
Constable Fund
The Constable Fund is gathered in a bank account awaiting a sufficient amount for specific purposes respecting the interests and wishes expressed for the RGME by its honoree, Giles Constable (1929–2021), Honorary Trustee, regarding its management, maintenance, research projects, and activities. Depending upon the available amount, the purposes are to be identified in consultation with the donors and others among his students, colleagues, and friends in the RGME.
Donor Relations
Besides those forms set out in other parts of this document, Donor Relations for the RGME will take several ‘tailored’ forms of approach and times or routines for them.
Thank-You Notes
Templates for thank-you notes will be prepared as guides or prompts for their issue.
Donations of greater than $2,000 are considered unusual gifts and warrant prompt thank you notes. The Director or designate will mail thank you notes to the donor’s address no later than 10 calendar days after the receipt of each unusual gift.
All other donations of $250 or greater warrant a thank-you note, which the Director or designate will post no later than the end of the calendar year after the donation has been received.
Donations less than $250 warrant thank-you e-mails, which the Director or designate will send no later than the end of the calendar year after the donation has been received.
Tax-Deductible Receipts
In keeping with our Recognition as a Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Director or designate will issue donors annual tax-deductible receipts for funds or non-cash charitable donations, in adherence with all applicable laws and regulations.
Privacy Policy
The RGME will maintain and adhere to a privacy policy, written in plain language, which demonstrates the utmost respect for our donors’ personal information. It is published on the RGME website (RGME Privacy Policy Statement).
Donor Promise
The RGME will maintain a “Donor Promise” document, the purpose of which is to communicate to donors clearly and succinctly how we intend be a good steward of the donations they have entrusted us with. It will include information about how donors might request changes.
Donor Tiers
The RGME will segment its donors appropriately, with the following objectives:
- Demonstrate appreciation and recognition of our donors.
- Increase revenue.
Donor Contact Information
The Director or designate will maintain donor information in a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet will be backed up on storage that resides in a separate physical location from the primary copy (e.g., on a hard drive in a safety deposit box, and/or in a secure cloud environment). The back-up will not be a synced copy — it will be maintained in such as manner that accidental deletions, edits, and/or corruption of the primary copy will not affect the back-up.
The Director or designate will back up donor contact information at least monthly. Old backup copies will continue to be stored, rather than deleted or overwritten. In the event that a donor requests that all their personal information be removed/deleted, all back up copies containing that info will need to be modified in order to comply with the request.
Donors may request updates to their contact information, by various means as appropriate, including mail or email. The Director or designate will update the donor contact information upon request.
Donor Acknowledgment and Appreciation
The RGME will maintain lists of Donors and Contributors on its website, if they allow, to honor their donations in funds and/or contributions in kind. These lists will distinguish the two classes, funds and contributions respectively, for which some persons would appear in both lists. In each case, permission will be sought to allow the publication on the list.
The lists would not solely be year-dependent, as they gather the names of individuals or entities that have given funds or contributions over longer time-periods, and might include annual groupings for more recent donations. For the list of Donors, the new Tiers of donation would appear, as the donors might permit.
These lists will appear on the RGME website. They will be updated regularly by the Director or designate.
Friends of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
The RGME will form a group of “Friends of the RGME” which gathers both Donors and Contributors, as well as others as requested, for special communications, activities, workshops, commemorative items, or other forms of recognition, so as to cultivate participation in the RGME community in ways other than, or alongside, the official events open more widely.
*****
Update:
Now see
We welcome you to join us.
The Friends of the RGME welcomes Donors, Contributors, Associates, Volunteers, and newcomers wishing to participate in our activities and belong to our community.
*****
Questions or Suggestions?
Please Contact Us or visit
- our FaceBook Page
- our Facebook Group
- our Twitter Feed (@rgme_mss)
- our Bluesky nest @rgmesocial.bluesky.social)
- our LinkedIn Group
- our Blog on Manuscript Studies and its Contents List
We invite you to join:
Donations and contributions, in funds or in kind, are welcome and easy to give. Given our low overheads, your donations have direct impact on our work and the furtherance of our mission. For our Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization, your donations may be tax-deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law. Thank you for your support!
We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at our events.
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