The Morgan Library & Museum invites applications for the position of Melvin R. Seiden Curator and Department Head of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts (the “Seiden Curator”), overseeing the Morgan’s exceptional collection of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts. With the department’s two Assistant (or Associate) Curators, the Seiden Curator conceives and executes exhibitions, stewards the care of the collection and its growth, conducts research and publishes on the collection, and helps provide appropriate access to the collection to researchers, students, and the general public.
The Seiden Curator is a leader in the field, well-regarded among peers, who is comfortable participating in a wide range of activities related to medieval and Renaissance manuscripts and is skillful in their ability to relate to varied constituencies inside and outside the Morgan. Departmental strategic planning, donor relations, staff supervision, and budgeting are important responsibilities of this position.
- Oversees the long-term preservation of the collection for the institution, the scholarly community, and the general public.
- Conceives, initiates, and executes in-house and loan exhibitions, rotations, and displays. This involves active participation in all aspects of exhibition planning, including but not limited to identifying loans, writing and editing catalogues, design and installation, preparation of didactic materials, and media relations.
- Researches, catalogues, and documents the collection, updating records on a continuing basis.
- Manages, mentors, and leads departmental staff including two other full-time curators and occasional fellows or interns.
- In concert with the Director, reviews potential acquisitions to the collection, through purchase or gift.
- Participates in scholarship, public programming (K-12, college and graduate level, adult), digital projects, outside publications, and teaching.
- Cultivates donors, manages the department’s Visiting Committee, and works with Development colleagues on grants and other funding initiatives.
- Contributes to Morgan-wide initiatives, including serving on staff committees or project teams, as required.
- Ph.D. in art history with an emphasis on manuscript illumination and medieval art, required. Strong liberal arts foundation preferred, especially in Western European art history, but could also include history and religion.
- Specialized knowledge of medieval and Renaissance manuscript illumination and codicology, along with a deep knowledge of medieval and Renaissance art and history. · Substantial experience working with illuminated manuscripts in an institutional setting.
- Reading knowledge of Latin required, and at least one other European language preferred.
- Strong organizational, research, and social skills for curating major exhibitions. Experience curating exhibitions is required.
- Demonstrated strength in writing and public speaking, for both scholarly and public audiences.
- Familiarity with the principles of the care and handling of rare books and manuscripts.
- Experience with acquisitions; current knowledge of the manuscript and book trade.
- Comfort interacting socially with Board members, donors, collectors, and the public and in participating in online audience development efforts such as social media.
- Professional knowledge of electronic cataloging and digitization of manuscript materials is desirable.
- Supervisory and administrative experience is required.
- Ability to work on several short-, mid-, and long-term projects at once and to manage overlapping deadlines; comfortable managing rapidly shifting priorities and individual and institutional needs.
- Ability to embrace routine and essential administrative tasks.
- Well-developed computer skills including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint required. Familiarity with museum and library database systems such as TMS and Voyager highly desirable.
- Willingness and ability to travel on occasional courier trips, in consultation with the Registrar and Morgan conservators. Travel for exhibition research and development is also required as needed. Percentage of travel time is unlikely to exceed 10%. Some travel requires extended hours and long periods of standing or riding in transport vehicles.
$127,000–$147,000 annually.
A cover letter with salary requirements is required.