New Technologies, Training Initiatives and the Future of Manuscript Studies

Abstract: We are standing at the edge of a major transformation in manuscript studies. Digital surrogates, Digital Humanities analyses and the rise of new scientific analytical technologies proliferate across universities, libraries and museums. They change the way we consult, research and disseminate historical manuscripts to reveal hitherto unknown, and unknowable, information. This article looks at how the field can best integrate these transformations. Concentrating on training programmes for advanced students as a way of reimagining the field, it provides concrete advice for the future of manuscript studies, arguing that the existence of manuscript studies as removed from Digital Humanities and heritage science is becoming more and more artificial and detrimental to the future of the field.