The MHS holds over 700 microfilm sets, including material from more than 400 of our own manuscript collections, microfilm editions of manuscript collections owned by other libraries which complement our own manuscript collections, and a large number of early newspapers on microfilm. One of the advantages of microfilm collections is that many of them can be purchased and/or interlibrary loaned. 

Collections Available For Purchase

The commercial vendor ProQuest sells copies of 65 microfilm editions of MHS manuscript and research collections. You can view a list of all available MHS collections on their website. To order copies of these microfilms, contact ProQuest directly at 800-521-0600 ext. 72873, or via their webform. Materials from MHS collections sold by ProQuest may be purchased by individual reel.

To inquire about ordering MHS microfilms not sold by ProQuest, contact the library at 617-646-0571 or via email.

Collections Available for Interlibrary Loan

The MHS holds duplicate positive copies of more than 100 collections filmed by the Society. When available, the MHS will loan entire small film sets or portions of large film sets for 30-day periods. To make an interlibrary loan request or to check for collection availability please contact our Senior Cataloger at 617-646-0504 or via email.

Requesting Reproductions

When microfilm collections cannot be either purchased or loaned, it may be possible to obtain reproductions of portions of microfilm collections from the Reader Services Staff.  For more information about this service see Reference Reproductions.