The digital revolution is opening our eyes to the important historical truth that the enduring cultural and economic value of the book has always depended on its adaptability to different media, today from printed book to e-book (and back again), and in the past from manuscript book to printed book (and vice versa).
Re-mediating the Early Book: Pasts and Futures (REBPAF) is a large-scale Doctoral Network coordinated by the University of Galway. It is funded by the European Union, the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, and UK Research and Innovation. Focusing on the ways in which 15th- and 16th-century book producers (scribes, printers, entrepreneurs) negotiated the dynamic relations between the manuscript book and the printed book and adapted to the evolving challenges of the market, it demonstrates the continuing relevance of these cultural and economic negotiations to the modern world.
To this end, REBPAF unites 6 Universities offering exceptional expertise in medieval and early modern studies (Bristol, Alicante, Antwerp, Galway, Vienna, Antwerp, Zürich) with 9 non-academic partners that embody the continuing importance and relevance of the early book in Europe today. Our partners include publishers, book dealers, museums, and other stakeholders in the creative and heritage sectors: Antiquariat Inlibris (Austria), Maggs Bros. Ltd. (UK), The National Print Museum (Ireland), Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Austria), Vlaamse Erfgoedbibliotheken (Belgium), Stiftsbibliothek Klosterneuburg (Austria), Boydell & Brewer (UK), Quaternio Verlag Luzern (Switzerland), and Cúirt International Festival of Literature (Ireland).
As part of their training, REBPAF's 13 DCs embark on secondments with these partners, providing opportunities for knowledge transfer from research to industry, and from industry back to research.
