The Museum is delighted to be partnering with the Malta Study Center at the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library (HMML) in Collegeville, Minnesota, to digitise manuscripts, rare printed books, pamphlets and maps from our extensive collections recording the history of the Order of St John and Malta. A photographic studio has been set up at St John’s Gate and the work is being carried out by specialist staff from the Malta Study Center, working alongside the Museum’s Curators and Project Librarian.
The collaboration is enhancing our catalogue records, leading to new insights and a deeper understanding of the collection’s significance and history. The project is also supporting the long-term preservation of fragile items by minimising the need for handling through online digital access. The high-quality images are being made freely available for members of the public and researchers to consult on HMML’s online Reading Room. This online resource is reconstructing – in virtual form – the archives of the Order which were widely dispersed when Napoleon expelled the Knights from Malta in 1798. It is enabling scholars and researchers to search across collections and discover new connections.
HMML’s Malta Study Center was founded in 1973 by Joseph S. Micallef, Honorary Consul General of Malta in Saint Paul, Minneapolis, to preserve the handwritten culture of the Order of St John of Jerusalem and Malta. Over the last fifty years, it has microfilmed and digitised Hospitaller archives, manuscripts, and art for more than 70 institutions in Malta, Italy, the United States and Canada. We are extremely grateful to the Malta Study Center, its staff and supporters for funding this digitisation initiative.
Project updates
We share updates on our project work on our blog. Below you can discover what we have been up to since the project began in 2023.
Update November 2023: Our new Digitisation Project has started!
