Each year, 1.3 million people visit the archaeological marvel Stonehenge.

As one of the most famous prehistoric monuments in the world, it showcases a remarkable feat of engineering and ingenuity—and provides researchers with valuable insight into Neolithic and Bronze Age societies and practices.

But what if scholars could see a reproduction of the stones as they were when erected—what new context would be considered and what discoveries could be made by studying a perfectly preserved version of its original form?

The University of Notre Dame offers the opportunity for such insight into 30,000 equally important, and equally irreplaceable, works of human creativity—reproductions of rare medieval manuscripts whose destruction was twice threatened during periods of intense geopolitical conflict.

“These are a preservation of cultural heritage, but in a book form,” said Julia Schneider, the medieval studies subject librarian with Notre Dame’s Hesburgh Libraries.

In her role, Schneider works closely with the College of Arts & Letters’ Medieval Institute and assists students, faculty, and visiting researchers with accessing the unique historical documents, books, and manuscripts housed on the seventh floor of the Hesburgh Library.

For more than six decades, Notre Dame has played a pivotal role in ensuring timeless treasures can never be lost, housing approximately 12,000 reels of microfilm—small-scale photographic negatives of documents and two-dimensional art pieces—containing reproductions of the collections of Biblioteca Ambrosiana, a 400-year-old library in Italy.

The seventh floor of the Hesburgh Library is the only place in the world outside of the Ambrosiana where the collection can be viewed, and for decades scholars of Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, theology, classics, and history have traveled to campus to study what it holds.

“Notre Dame brings many, many scholars from Europe to campus as visitors for lectures or research, and they often say that this is the best library they’ve ever worked with,” said Thomas Burman, the Robert M. Conway Director of the Medieval Institute and a professor of history. “They’ll spend an enormous amount of time with our library databases because they can’t get those materials elsewhere. That kind of testament from scholars is an indication of how important our work here is.”

This February, the 65-year relationship between the Hesburgh Libraries and the Ambrosiana will be celebrated with a two-day symposium in which world-renowned medieval scholars will discuss the importance of the partners’ steadfast commitment to preserving history and the need to digitize the collection to ensure its future.

“We want to continue this relationship between the Ambrosiana and Notre Dame,” Schneider said. “And we wanted to recognize this relationship now because we’re at a crossroads as we move from the analog world into promoting the digital collection. We want to commemorate what’s gone before, but also to celebrate what’s coming.”

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Originally published by Mary Kinney at al.nd.edu on February 20, 2025.