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Writer's pictureSilvia Hufnagel

Call for Papers: Use and Reuse of Paper in the Pre-Industrial World

We are very excited to share this Call for Papers for a colloquium that we are jointly organising with the University College Cork, Ireland. The colloquium will take place in Cork 27-28 August 2024.



We would like to strengthen the change of focus to later stages in the life cycle of paper and to nontext-bearing paper objects , and invite you to investigate various approaches towards the use and reuse of pre-industrial paper. Possible research questions include, but are not limited to:

  •  To what uses was paper put, apart from books and manuscripts? What historical sources and artefacts bear witness to such uses?

  •  Did paper replace other materials or did it create new needs?

  •  How did the use and reuse of paper spread through our world? How widespread was the use of paper in society? Are there differences of use and reuse with regard to geographical or social aspects?

  •  When did the reuse of paper start, when did it stop and were there specific events that led to the reuse of paper?

  •  Does the reuse of handmade paper give us general clues about the age, or ‘life expectancy’ of paper? For how long was paper in circulation?

  •  What manuscripts and books were prone to be recycled and to contain recycled materials?

  •  To what new uses was recycled paper put, apart from manuscripts and books?

Topics are not limited to book history, codicology or fragmentology, and suggestions from other disciplines are particularly welcome. We especially encourage scholars, librarians, archivists, conservators and other interested parties from outside Europe to send us an abstract and to attend our colloquium. Participation is free of charge but attendees and presenters are responsible for their own travel and accommodation.

Please send abstracts of 200-300 words by 31 March 2024 to silvia(a)hi.is.

Please feel free to circulate the call for papers.



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