For the encoding assignment, my group and I have
decided to challenge ourselves. Following the TEI guidelines, we will be
marking up two pages, including annotations and illustrations, of De Sphaera Mundi, a medieval
introductory text to physics and astronomy.
In many ways, Johannes
de Scorobosco’s manual of the stars is a perfect artefact for digital
humanities. The discipline is meant to act as a bridge between digital
technologies and humanities research. What better way for these two
practices to intersect then with a pre-modern science text breathing fresh,
electronic life with a new XML skeleton?
But
the text itself is not so straightforward. Before we had the opportunity to
scrutinize a manuscript from the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, we had
examined an available
facsimile to try and decide which parts would be the best for us to encode.
The trouble we encountered was that manuscript we found at Thomas Fisher had
significantly more annotations and scholarly commentary than we had
anticipated. The annotations are in Spanish and, at times, written with such
short letters that a microscope becomes a necessary tool to complete the simple
task of reading them. Also, whomever owned the book before Thomas Fisher was
able to get their hands on it had provided plenty of their own commentary in
writing which mirrors the styling of the text, making it impossible to index
the point that we eventually decide to encode.
Frankly,
it’s a challenge which makes the completion of this project even more
necessary. While the nameless scholar’s notes and commentary can be annoying
for anyone who is only interested with what Johannes de Scorbosco had written,
they are still necessary to record and interpret for reasons which go beyond romanticism
of the page and quill. Knowledge and ideas become little more than shadows if
we choose to remain stagnant when presented with the opportunity to do
otherwise. As scholars, there are times when we must take the responsibility to
ensure the wisdom of the past can loudly echo into our work. This is such an
opportunity which my group and I will happily take advantage of.
-Jackson
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