Project description
Exploring manuscript production in Early Modern Europe
It is believed that print production dominated literature, science, and music, among other areas, in Early Modern Europe (1575-1800). However, manuscript production and publication, particularly in Italy, were exceptionally rich but have been neglected in research. The ERC-funded PRIMA project aims to revolutionise our understanding of manuscript production and publication in Early Modern Europe. It will explore the relationship between text and physical form, highlight overlooked manuscript culture, and challenge assumptions about the superiority of print over manuscripts. The project will focus on Italy and employ innovative methods to uncover unknown works. It will also establish a new discipline and centre for Modern Manuscript Studies, along with a book collection and open-access publications.
Objective
The PRIMA project will redefine our understanding of how culture was produced and disseminated in Early Modern Europe (1575-1800). PRIMA will uncover the importance and the scale of manuscript production and publication for literature, science, music, and other areas, for a period when print is believed to be the dominant (if not the only) technology for publication. By investigating the indissoluble connection between text and carrier, PRIMA will explore how manuscripts have shaped society for much longer than believed. The PRIMA project will unveil the rich manuscript culture that hides in the plain sight of scholars and answer why so many manuscripts were produced, by whom, for whom and how. We will assess the existence of modern scriptoria, uncover monastic writing practices in the modern period, and focus on manuscript production within universities and academies. For literature, particularly satyric and lyric poetry and theatre, it is our argument that manuscript dissemination is the norm and that print is exceptional. We will focus particularly on Italy while allowing for significant openings towards other cultures. Italian manuscript production and consumption are both exceptionally rich and understudied. Adopting qualitative and quantitative methods and innovative computational approaches for data mining, production, and retrieval will ensure the project's feasibility. The investigation of post-print manuscripts will uncover unknown works, which will help redefine our understanding of literary production for the 17th through the 18th centuries by fighting teleological prejudices about the inferiority of manuscripts with respect to print from the 16th century onwards. Finally, PRIMA will also investigate cases of print/manuscript hybridisation, where manuscripts imitate print or include printed sections. The project's main outcomes are the creation of a new discipline and a centre for Modern Manuscript Studies, a book collection and an OA.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
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Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsHost institution
37020 Tours
France