The Order of Knowledge and Biographical Writing. Calculated Handwriting in Printed Books of the Early Modern Period (16th and 17th Century) (B13*)

• Subject Area: German Literary and Cultural Studies (Modern German Literature)
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 178035969

The project investigates the interaction between individual handwriting and the printed text in books of the early modern period which present an objective order of knowledge and anticipate handwritten interventions, supported by their specific layout and inserted blank pages or spaces. It focusses on biographic genres such as calendric diaries and alba amicorum and examines the particular materiality of those books as created by the combination of handwriting, the printed text, and images. It also factors in their social contexts, which determine certain dynamics of text production and reception. Thus, it sheds light on modes and conditions of early modern biographical writing.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 933: Material Text Cultures. Materiality and Presence of Writing in Non-Typographic Societies
• Applicant Institution: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• Project Head: Dr. Sylvia Brockstieger