Description
"This is a tour de force of sophisticated global erudition." -Filippo de Vivo, University of Oxford, UK
"In its wide global range and rich variety of studies, this expertly edited volume provides an unprecedented view into the scribal practices of diverse cultural traditions in the early modern period." -Johanna Drucker, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
"This volume finally gives the colophon the place it deserves. We see scribes and printers at work in Thailand, the Deccan, Delhi, Damascus, Antwerp, and Timbuktu." -Konrad Hirschler, University of Hamburg, Germany
"In this cross-disciplinary endeavor, ten authors tell lively and exciting stories of historical scribal practices." -Verena Klemm, University of Leipzig, Germany
This book is the first to chart the global diversity of colophons between 1400 and 1800. The volume presents a new approach to scribal cultures that expands traditional definitions. Moving from the paradigm of codicological information towards a thorough interpretation of the wider social worlds of colophons in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America, this volume uncovers the fascinating cultural history of early modern scribes. Chapters examine how those engaging in the composition and distribution of colophons shaped scribal identities, group cultures and bookish communities in a world in which manuscripts mattered. Authors build on approaches from anthropology, cultural studies, codicology, history, and philology to offer a new conceptual framework that studies colophons as scribal practices embedded in their changing social and cultural worlds. As a new contribution to the history of the book, this volume's global approach pushes the boundaries of what constitutes a colophon.
About the Author
Reviews
"This volume is a welcome addition for the growing community of scholars interested in textual materialities and comparative book history. ... this review shall point out some critical perspectives from which readers can engage with this innovative and thought-provoking collection." (Hwisang Cho, Journal of Early Modern History, Vol. 27 (4), 2023)
"Scribal practice is a welcome reminder that every part of a written text is potentially significant, and that even little-known texts can open unexpected windows on the past and present." (Deborah Rudolph, EAPS, East Asian Publishing and Society, Vol. 13, 2023)
Book Information
ISBN 9783030901530
Author Christopher D. Bahl
Format Hardback
Page Count 303
Imprint Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Publisher Springer Nature Switzerland AG
"In its wide global range and rich variety of studies, this expertly edited volume provides an unprecedented view into the scribal practices of diverse cultural traditions in the early modern period." -Johanna Drucker, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
"This volume finally gives the colophon the place it deserves. We see scribes and printers at work in Thailand, the Deccan, Delhi, Damascus, Antwerp, and Timbuktu." -Konrad Hirschler, University of Hamburg, Germany
"In this cross-disciplinary endeavor, ten authors tell lively and exciting stories of historical scribal practices." -Verena Klemm, University of Leipzig, Germany
This book is the first to chart the global diversity of colophons between 1400 and 1800. The volume presents a new approach to scribal cultures that expands traditional definitions. Moving from the paradigm of codicological information towards a thorough interpretation of the wider social worlds of colophons in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America, this volume uncovers the fascinating cultural history of early modern scribes. Chapters examine how those engaging in the composition and distribution of colophons shaped scribal identities, group cultures and bookish communities in a world in which manuscripts mattered. Authors build on approaches from anthropology, cultural studies, codicology, history, and philology to offer a new conceptual framework that studies colophons as scribal practices embedded in their changing social and cultural worlds. As a new contribution to the history of the book, this volume's global approach pushes the boundaries of what constitutes a colophon.
About the Author
Christopher Bahl is Assistant Professor in South Asian History, Durham University, UK. He is interested in the social, cultural, and political histories of the early modern western Indian Ocean world and studies them through its surviving manuscript cultures.
Stefan Hanss is Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Manchester, UK, and winner of a British Academy Rising Star Engagement Award and a Philip Leverhulme Prize. Hanss has published widely on material culture and global history.
Reviews
"This volume is a welcome addition for the growing community of scholars interested in textual materialities and comparative book history. ... this review shall point out some critical perspectives from which readers can engage with this innovative and thought-provoking collection." (Hwisang Cho, Journal of Early Modern History, Vol. 27 (4), 2023)
"Scribal practice is a welcome reminder that every part of a written text is potentially significant, and that even little-known texts can open unexpected windows on the past and present." (Deborah Rudolph, EAPS, East Asian Publishing and Society, Vol. 13, 2023)
Book Information
ISBN 9783030901530
Author Christopher D. Bahl
Format Hardback
Page Count 303
Imprint Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Publisher Springer Nature Switzerland AG
