A digital pursuit of mass produced images of the 19th century
Speaker(s): Sofie Arneberg
Related events: New sources for book history – International Conference
Releated Working Group(s):
Collection: CERl conferences
Recorded: November 28, 2017
Abstract:
Sofie Arneberg (National Library of Norway), A digital pursuit of mass produced images of the 19th century
The European illustrated magazines of the 19th century presented the mass audience with something new: A quantity of illustrations, mostly xylographs, accessible to a reasonable price. The technique of stereotyping created an industry, where images were sold, bought and transported across borders, in great volume, and within a relatively short period. How were these images received by the audience, and what happened when, or if, they lost their novelty, through rapid reprinting and re-use in similar publications? As more material is digitized in various libraries and special collections, it is possible to do digital research across both borders and collections. By pursuing these images, both to their origin and to the various publications to which they were disseminated, a map can possibly be drawn that can tell us something about cooperation and trade among the publishers of the time, across the Atlantic and the European continent.
By applying a combination of digital tools, like automatic image extraction and reverse image searches, I would like to demonstrate and further explore these possibilities. My study case is the Norwegian illustrated magazine Billed-Magazin for Børn, published in Oslo from 1838 from 1839, and Norway´s first magazine for children. The magazine was, like many others of the time, influenced by The Penny Magazine, and several of its illustrations originated there.
The National Library of Norway is about to complete its project of digitizing the national book catalogue, “the Digital bookshelf”. The project has opened up a vast area of new possibilities for digital research, amongst them, but not greatly explored, the study of texts and images.
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