Thread by @dbellingradt

We will build an online reference work for the annually-published Early Modern German writing calendar, the #Schreibkalender, funded by @dfg_public and in cooperation with the "AG Digitale Forschungsdaten und Forschungsinformationen" @UniFAU.

t1p.de/gurk

A thread
1/

Sorry, the what?

While being a characteristic part of the contemporary media ensemble in the German-speaking areas of Europe, the #Schreibkalender was produced from its beginning in 1540 in high quantities and reached very large audiences.
#bookhistory #mediahistory

2/

The #Schreibkalender was a paper-based material artefact resulting from complex and specialized publishing and printing processes, and also a document of handwritten interaction. Within the typical dual content of the Kalendarium (containing astronomical information and ...

3/

... astrological details) and the “Prognostikum (containing longer stories on historical, political and religious topics) the owner/reader was offered space for individual remarks, observations, and comments.

This intentionally-inserted writing space gave ...

4/

... the #Schreibkalender its name: a calendar to insert writing. These handwritten portions are to be found in about 5900 calendars and are largely unstudied. They, in sum, make the Schreibkalender a very rich source for many historical departures.

5/

It is from this point that our project departs. It builds on the expertise of Klaus-Dieter Herbst and four projects funded by the DFG since 2002, uses abouzt 14,500 copies of various Schreibkalender from the years 1540–1800, and aims to make these sources accessible online.

6/

The aim of the project is to systematically search for writing calendars that contain handwritten portions and entries in yet unsurveyed archival collections and make these calendars available in an internet database. Attention "Wunder-Calender", we come to search for you.

7/

The project’s database is designed to ensure its future development into a bigger reference work providing systematic documentation and analysis of all forms of printed calendars. Therefore, this project intends itself to be a pilot project for an online reference work of ...
8/

.. all calendars published before 1800 in German-speaking Europe. Building on the project’s online reference work, a first history of the printed calendar, as an important part of a to be written history of early modern communication, seems possible.

9/

We are pleased to have received funding for this (@dfg_public), and we owe gratitute to the peer-reviewers and their comments. Without the involvement of the leading expert on #earlymodern calendars, Klaus-Dieter Herbst, this all would not have been possible. More soon.

10/10