The twenty monasteries which comprise the historic and legendary yet largely inaccessible monastic complex on Mt. Athos in Greece house a rich collection of over 11,000 manuscripts. In 1952 and 1953, the Library of Congress and the International Greek New Testament Project filmed the largest group of manuscripts in the history of Athos. This collection included 209 Greek and Georgian manuscripts of the Bible along with some 44 apocryphal writings as well as various documents on Byzantine music and letters. A Descriptive Checklist of Selected Manuscripts in the Monasteries of Mount Athos which gave access to the collection arranged according to manuscripts from each monastery within Athos was prepared by Ernest W. Saunders and Charles G. Lahood, Jr. and published in 1957. The microfilm collection resides in the custody of the Humanities and Social Sciences Division, where the microfilm collection still may be requested.

Since its appearance, the Manuscripts from the Monasteries of Mt. Athos Collection has been so widely consulted by scholars around the globe that the Library has now digitized the microfilms to facilitate their use by researchers worldwide. At the same time the descriptions of the manuscripts as found in the Checklist have also been edited and updated.

Researchers may now consult and download the digitized versions of these manuscripts or order microfilm reproductions through Duplication Services.