Hill Museum & Manuscript Library

The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) is a global organization that preserves and shares the world’s handwritten past to inspire a deeper understanding of our present and future. Handwritten books—manuscripts—help document what people over thousands of years thought important enough to record. By photographing and cataloging manuscripts around the world, we can help share these texts for centuries to come.

Partnerships with libraries worldwide allow HMML to create digital images of the manuscripts in their collections and share these images online. HMML gives special priority to manuscripts located in regions endangered by war, political instability, and other threats. 

Digitization is done entirely through local teams, with HMML providing equipment, training, technical support, and payment. Everything in a collection is photographed because none of us know what might be significant in the future. 

Access is provided by HMML staff, who ensure that the photographs of manuscripts are identified, supported longterm, and made freely available online through Reading Room (vHMML.org). Through fellowships, programs, exhibitions, and more, HMML helps advance research and scholarly inquiry.