The Library has collections of renaissance and medieval manuscripts and Islamic manuscripts in both the Manuscripts and Archives Division and the Spencer Collection.
The Manuscripts and Archives Division's renaissance and medieval manuscripts, circa 850-circa 1600, are briefly described here: http://archives.nypl.
For more thorough descriptions of the Library's renaissance and medieval manuscripts, consult the following:
- Digital Scriptorium (See both NYPL MA and NYPL Spencer shelfmarks, as well as this table of the material and libraries involved with the Digital Scriptorium.)
- Digital Collections, especially the Renaissance and medieval manuscripts collection and digitized items from the Spencer Collection
- Splendor of the Word exhibition catalog
- Seymour De Ricci, A list of medieval manuscripts in the New York Public Library
- Seymour De Ricci and W.J. Wilson, Census of medieval and renaissance manuscripts in the United States and Canada
The primary reference for the Library's Islamic manuscripts is Barbara Schmitz's Islamic Manuscripts in the New York Public Library.
