As my time with the Digital Studio capstone project draws to a close, I can’t help but reflect on two major elements of my project this semester: how much I have managed to complete, and the challenges I’ve had working through the term. My goal for this semester was to improve upon and expand myContinue reading “Meditating on Manuscript Mapping”
Author Archives: pgmillr
Climbing a Ladder to Map a Book Culture
One of my favorite devotional icons is known as the Ladder of Virtue. In Orthodox Churches, the image of devotees striving to climb a ladder as saintly onlookers cheer them on from clouds high above and demons attempt to pull them down with pitchforks has long appealed to me as an metaphor for work. IContinue reading “Climbing a Ladder to Map a Book Culture”
Ambiguous Translations from Text to Map
Since the start of the summer, mapping the trade of Syriac manuscripts has made significant progress. One of the challenges I expected going into this project was the trouble of uncertainty. Much of my attempt to harvest geographic data is dependent on ancient scribes making notes on the book about when and where the bookContinue reading “Ambiguous Translations from Text to Map”
From Baghdad to Britain: Mapping an Ancient Book Trade
In the year 925, a new governor of Egypt imposed taxes that previously did not affect the Christian clergy of monasteries. The head of a monastery known as Dayr al-Suryan (pictured below), or the Monastery of the Syrians, then went on a journey to Baghdad to attempt to appeal and remove the tax burden fromContinue reading “From Baghdad to Britain: Mapping an Ancient Book Trade”