Change of Paradigms and Mechanical (Re)discoveries. Manuscript Cultures and Print Cultures Across Asia

Camillo A. Formigatti

doi:10.13135/1825-263X/2260

Camillo A. Formigatti Bodleian Library, Oxford

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13135/1825-263X/2260

Keywords: printing revolution, book history, manuscripts studies, Asian studies, cultural studies

Abstract

This introduction summarizes the articles included in this section, at the same time presenting some fundamental aspects of the scholarly debate about the so-called ‘print revolution.’ The attempt is made to draw preliminary conclusions about the impact of printing technology in a wider context, taking into consideration the peculiarities of different Asian book cultures as compared to European book culture. The aim of this short contribution is to elicit a discussion between scholars rather than provide definitive answers.

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Author Biography

Camillo A. Formigatti, Bodleian Library, Oxford

Camillo Formigatti studied Indology and Sanskrit as a secondary when he was studying Classics at the “Università Statale” in Milan. After that he spent ten years in Germany, learning Tibetan and textual criticism in Marburg and manuscript studies in Hamburg. From 2008 to 2011, he worked as a research associate on the project In the Margins of the Text: Annotated Manuscripts from Northern India and Nepal, within the framework of the research group Manuskriptkulturen in Asien und Afrika, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. He worked in the Sanskrit Manuscripts Project at the University of Cambridge from 2011 to 2014. Currently he is the John Clay Sanskrit Librarian at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

References

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Ballantyne, Tony. 2007. “What Difference Does Colonialism Make? Reassessing Print and Social Chan-ge in an Age of Global Imperialism.” In Agent of Change: Print Culture Studies after Elizabeth L. Eisen-stein, edited by Sabrina Alcorn Baron, Eric N. Lindquist, and Eleanor F. Shevlin, 342-52. Univer-sity of Massachusetts Press.

Chartier, Roger. 2007. “The Printing Revolution: A Reappraisal.” In Agent of Change: Print Culture Studies after Elizabeth L. Eisenstein, edited by Sabrina Alcorn Baron, Eric N. Lindquist, and Eleanor F. Shevlin, 397-408. University of Massachusetts Press.

Chow, Kai-wing. 2007. “Reinventing Gutenberg: Woodblock and Movable-Type Printing in Europe and China.” In Agent of Change: Print Culture Studies after Elizabeth L. Eisenstein, edited by Sabrina Al-corn Baron, Eric N. Lindquist, and Eleanor F. Shevlin, 169-92. University of Massachusetts Press.

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Formigatti, Camillo. 2016. “A Forgotten Chapter in South Asian Book History? A Bird’s Eye View of Sanskrit Print Culture.” In Tibetan Printing: Comparison, Continuities, and Change, edited by Hilde-gard Diemberger, Franz-Karl Ehrhard, and Peter Kornicki, 72-134. Leiden–Boston: Brill.

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