50,000 Strong: NINS Digital Collections Crosses a Historic Threshold

The NINS Digital Collections has achieved a major milestone: more than 50,000 archival items are now published online, including hundreds of thousands of canvases. This includes letters, notes, sermons, poems, published works, photographs, musical scores, and many other materials. (While we’ve surpassed 50,000 published items, thousands more have already been scanned and are awaiting cataloging. Each week, hundreds of new items are added.)

Currently, there are 25 distinct collections. The largest is the original Birmingham Oratory Collection, first digitized in 2013, which now totals nearly 30,500 items. The second largest is from our partnership with the Archdiocese of Westminster, which has added almost 12,000 items.

Looking at authors, the largest group—more than 10,000 items—comes from Cardinal Newman himself. This is followed by 1,600 items from Cardinal Manning, 1,400 from Cardinal Wiseman, and 1,300 from Cardinal Vaughan.

Other significant groups include nearly 750 letters from Bishop Ullathorne, and between 400 and 600 items each from Father Faber, Father Ambrose St. John, and Edward Pusey.

About 5,000 items are currently labeled “anonymous” (“Anon”). These include unsigned letters, items with missing or illegible signatures, or works where a name is legible but no further information is available about the author. Research is ongoing, and if anyone can assist in identifying these individuals, please get in touch.