Go ahead, mock me for my excitement concerning all things medieval.
The original Caxton printings of The Canterbury Tales are online.
Hot dog.
I read this pitiful BBC article about the "digitization." It's pitiful because it shamelessly plugs a BBC mini-series, fails to link to the big news event and has a weird lead ("Internet users will be able from Friday to view the first editions of The Canterbury Tales online..." I had no idea Friday was something you could "from" - could be a British quirk).
But back to the link business. I understand that it's policy to not link off-site, but this instance was ridiculous. The whole story was about the Tales being online...I shouldn't have had to Google the British Library to find it.
Anyway, looking at the scanned text is absolutely fascinating! To see the way something looks that was produced 600 years ago is breathtaking (for me). To attempt to read the original script is even more fun!
I'm experiencing one of those "if only I had a time machine to the Middle Ages" moments. Please excuse.
Posted by Julie Young at October 24, 2003 02:56 PMI do indeed share your (pitiful) excitement. It reminds me of the day Dr. Alexander popped in a wonderful videotape titled (I believe) The Making of a Manuscript. You and I were the only ones taking notes, and quite possibly, the only ones even conscious. But we're wonderful in our nerdiness; we really really are :-)
Posted by: Donna R. Hibbs at October 24, 2003 02:37 PM