„Disce aliquid!“– „Lerne etwas!“: Die Gebrauchsspuren in der "De imitatione Christi" als Spiegel der Interaktion zwischen Lesern
In this article I introduce a new approach to explore the reading habits of early modern readers. I focus on the reciprocal relationship between the individual reader, a single text, the physical object book and the collection a book belongs to. For a systematic perspective on these complex and dyna...
| Published in: | Church history and religious culture |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | German |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2013
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| In: |
Church history and religious culture
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| Further subjects: | B
Modern Devotion
user’s notes
Stiftsbibliothek Xanten
Thomas van Kempen
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | In this article I introduce a new approach to explore the reading habits of early modern readers. I focus on the reciprocal relationship between the individual reader, a single text, the physical object book and the collection a book belongs to. For a systematic perspective on these complex and dynamic relationships I introduce the concept of the ‚responsive reader.‘ My approach thus deals with the empirical reader; I will look over his shoulder to the text he reads and to the way he reacts to them. The approach is pointed out here on a case study of one edition of Thomas van Kempen’s De imitatione Christi (probably printed in 1501) from the collection of the Stiftsbibliothek in Xanten, belonging to the Lower German Meuse-Rhine-area. But the most important source is not yet the text itself, but the ownership marks and the user’s notes that were written on the title page, on blank pages or beside the text. The notes can mean everything from little drawings to extensive comments and they can tell us how readers have received the text, how they reacted on it and which kind of thoughts they connected to it. The personal reactions in the margins are to be completed by biographical information derived from archival materials. Altogether, this information will lead to a vivid picture of the reader, his reading habits, and his personal perception of the text. |
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| ISSN: | 1871-2428 |
| Contains: | In: Church history and religious culture
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/18712428-13930405 |