MS classes

The manuscript classes that have been used since 1948 are the following:

MS Am

Am[erican]. Contains materials concerning the history and culture of the United States, includes colonial manuscripts, materials by American-born creators (even if they have become expatriates), and non-English language materials created in or concerning the U.S.

MS AmW (closed)

Am[erican] W[estern]. Contains materials concerning the western borders of the United States, which includes the current west coast, but also Ohio, Kentucky, western Pennsylvania, and the midwest, when these were the western border of the U.S., collected under the auspices of the Harvard Commission on Western History. This classification is closed.

MS Ang-Sax (closed)

Ang[lo]-Sax[on]. Listed as a classification in Rodney Dennis, Manuscripts and Drawings, but seemingly never used. This classification is closed.

MS Arab

Arab[ic]. Contains materials written in Arabic.

MS Arab SM (closed)

Arab[ic] S[emitic] M[useum]. Contains materials written in Arabic transferred from the Semitic Museum. This classification is closed.

MS Arm

Arm[enian]. Contains materials written in the Armenian language, regardless of origin, as well as materials that concern Armenian people and culture written in other languages.

MS Beng (closed)

Beng[ali]. Listed as a classification in Rodney Dennis, Manuscripts and Drawings, but the single manuscript classified as Bengali was reclassed. There is no MS Beng item. This classification is closed.

MS Breton

Materials in Breton and materials concerning Brittany.

MS Burm

Burm[ese]. Materials in Burmese.

MS Can

Can[adian]. Materials concerning Canada, Canadian culture, and by or about Canadian-born creators.

MS Catalan

Materials written in Catalan.

MS Chinese

Materials in Chinese and materials concerning Chinese history and culture.

MS Com (closed)

Com[mercial]/Com[merce]. Materials concerning business and commerce. This classification is closed.

MS Coptic

Materials in Coptic.

MS Danish

Materials in Danish, materials concerning Danish history and culture, and materials by or about Danish-born creators.

MS Dutch

Materials in Dutch and materials concerning Dutch history and culture.

MS E[ccentric] (closed)

Various materials. An early classification for “miscellaneous manuscripts.” This classification is closed.

MS Egypt

Egypt[ian]. Currently contains materials concerning pre-Islamic Egyptian history and culture.

MS Eng

Eng[lish]. Contains materials concerning the history and culture of Great Britain, including British colonial history and other British Empire materials, in any language (except for the United States as a colony, which is classified under MS Am) and materials by British-born creators (even if they have become expatriates). Also contains any English-language material that does not readily fit into another classification and English-language literary material whose creator is not U.S.-born (e.g. the manuscript of Joyce’s Portrait of the artist as a young man, is classified as MS Eng 160.3).

MS Eng (obsolete)

Eng[ineering]. Former Widener manuscript call number. No longer used. Any materials found with an MS Eng[ineering] classification should be reclassified to the appropriate manuscript call number.

MS Ethiopic

Contains materials written in the Ethiopic language (Ge’ez). Should also contain Amharic (modern Ethiopic).

MS Facs

Facs[imile]. Contains manuscript facsimiles.

MS Fr

Fr[ench]. Contains materials concerning the history and culture of France, including French colonies, and materials by French-born creators. Also contains any French-language material that does not readily fit into another classification and French-language literary material whose creator is not U.S.-born.

MS Georgian

Contains materials written in Georgian.

MS Ger

Ger[man]. Contains materials in German and those concerning the history and culture of Germany and the German states, including German colonies, and materials by German-born creators. Also contains any German-language material that does not readily fit into another classification and German-language literary material whose creator is not U.S.-born.

MS Gr

Gr[eek]. Contains materials written in classical and modern Greek.

MS Gr SM (closed)

Gr[eek] S[emetic] M[useum]. Contains materials written in Arabic transferred from the Semitic Museum. This classification is closed.

MS Hebrew

Contains materials written in Biblical/classical Hebrew, should also include modern Hebrew.

MS HEW (closed)

Contains materials from the Harry Elkins Widener collection, chiefly items removed from bound volumes and realia. This classification is closed. Note: there is a separate classification for medieval materials from this collection, MS Widener.

MS Hung

Hung[arian]. Contains materials written in Hungarian.

MS Hyde (closed)

Contains Samuel Johnson materials given by Donald and Mary Hyde. This classification is closed.

MS Icelandic

Contains materials written in Icelandic.

MS Indic

Contains material written in Indo-Aryan languages. Some Indic languages have their own categories, MS Oriya, MS Sinhala, and MS Sanskrit; there is some cross-over.

MS Indo

Indo[nesian]. Contains materials in various Indonesian languages in a variety of scripts (including Arabic, Malay, etc.).

MS Ir

Ir[ish]. Contains materials written in Gaelic.

MS Ital

Ital[ian]. Contains materials written in Italian and materials in translation that were originally written in Italian.

MS Japan

Japan[ese]. Materials in Japanese and materials concerning Japanese culture and history.

MS Judaica

Materials in any language other than Hebrew concerning Jews, Jewish history, and, to a lesser extent, Judaism. Material in Hebrew should be classified as MS Hebrew.

MS Keats

Contains materials concerning Keats and his circle. Material designation at the discretion of the curator.

MS Lat

Lat[in]. Contains materials written in Latin. Note: some Latin-language materials are classed as MS Eng (or other) depending on cultural impact of item or curatorial decision.

MS Lincoln (closed)

Contains materials from the Lincoln Room. This classification is closed.

MS Lowell (closed)

Contains materials from the Amy Lowell collection of manuscripts. This classification is closed.

MCZ (using MCZ nos.) (closed)

Contained materials from the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Materials were returned to MCZ in 2005. This classification is closed.

MS Mus

Mus[ic]. Contains manuscript music material in any language. Designation depends on the amount of music in the material and curator/cataloger discretion.

MS Nor

Nor[wegian]. Contains material written in Norwegian.

MS Oriya

Contains material written in Oriya.

MS Pali

Contains material written in the Pali language, in various scripts.

MS Persian

Contains material written in Persian and Urdu.

MS Port

Port[uguese]. Contains material written in Portuguese and materials concerning Portuguese history and culture.

MS Riant (closed)

Contains material from the Paul Riant collection of manuscripts. This classification is closed.

MS Richardson (closed)

Contains material collected by William Richardson. This classification is closed.

MS Russ

Russ[ian]. Contains materials in Russian, by or about Russian-born creators, and created in Russia.

MS San

San[skrit]. Contains materials in Sanskrit.

MS Siam

Siam[ese]. Contains materials in Thai and Khmer.

MS Sinh

Sinh[alese]. Contains materials in Sinhalese script.

MS Slavic

Contains materials in non-Russian Slavic languages and Polish and materials in any language concerning literary works in non-Russian Slavic languages and Polish.

MS Span

Span[ish]. Contains materials in Spanish, materials concerning the culture and history of Spanish-speaking countries, and materials in translation that were originally written in Spanish.

MS Sparks (closed)

Contains materials collected by Jared Sparks. This classification is closed.

MS Storage (closed)

Contains materials in the manuscript storage area. This classification is closed.

MS Swed

Swed[ish]. Contains material in Swedish.

MS Syriac

Contains materials in Syriac.

MS Tamil

Contains materials in Tamil.

MS TCS (closed)

Contains materials from Harvard Theatre Collection series. This classification is closed.

MS Thr

Designation for materials given to or purchased for the Harvard Theatre Collection.

MS Tibetan

Contains materials in Tibetan.

MS Turk

Turk[ish]. Contains materials in Turkish and allied languages (e.g., Mongolian is classed in MS Turk).

MS Typ

Contains materials given to or purchased for the Department of Printing and Graphic Arts.

MS Vai

Contains materials written in and about the Vai language.

MS Welsh

Contains materials in Welsh.

MS Widener (closed)

Contains medieval materials from the Harry Elkins Widener collection. This classification is closed. Note: there is a separate classification for other materials from this collection, MS HEW.