The Manuscripts Collection at Brown University includes archives, papers, artificial collections, and individual manuscripts - over 2,000,000 pieces of paper in all. Archives, typically, are collections of manuscripts, printed materials, and other items that have been generated by an institution or organization in the course of its official activities. Papers are collections of related manuscripts generated by an individual or family.
Artificial collections are groups of manuscripts assembled by collectors.
In library usage, however, manuscripts can either be handwritten or typed. In order to locate all manuscripts relevant to your research, it is advisable to begin by speaking with the Manuscripts staff, who will assist you in using the Manuscripts Catalog, Josiah , and related finding aids and databases. Josiah includes collection-level records for all manuscript collections acquired prior to March, 1996. Consult the Manuscripts Catalog and the collection registers, inventories, and finding aids for more detailed subject and name access to manuscript col lections. American literature holdings are strongest in poetry and drama, for the reason that both manuscript and printed materials in these fields were formerly acquired for the Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays .