2. Ways of Touching Manuscripts

Abstract

I am touched by the generosity of individuals and institutions that made this study possible. A Major Research Grant from the Leverhulme allowed me to read, write, travel, play idea-generating games, and most importantly, to take some risks. Several institutions have granted me fellowships that have afforded me opportunities to develop ideas about touching manuscripts in conversation with their members. Back in 2000 at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts in Washington, DC, Barry Flood and Zoë Strother first coaxed these ideas from their kernel. The ideas then developed during residencies at the Internationales Kolleg für Kulturtechnikforschung und Medienphilosophie (IKKM) at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, where Lorenz Engell and Bernhard Siegert created a stimulating and edgy atmosphere. They encouraged me to think about objects as a series of operations. In Weimar I had particularly fruitful conversations with Moritz Hiller and Katharina Rein. Meanwhile, my former research assistant, Leif Weitzel, not only scraped hundreds of images of missals for me (from the internet, not with a blade), but also helped build an enormous loom in my office in the Palais Dürckheim.I am grateful to the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in Amsterdam, which not only provided access to scholars and libraries, but also hosted my fiftieth birthday party. At the Institut für Realienkunde des Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit in Krems an der Donau (Austria), Isabella Nicka, Thomas Kühtreiber, and Heike Schlie provided emulable models of collegiality and taught me the art of the coffee break. Serving as the Wanley Fellow at the Bodleian Library in Oxford gave me access to some of the greatest minds and filthiest books in the world. I am grateful for joyous exchanges with