Sender: Rare book and manuscripts <EXLIBRIS-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Yes. But the cost of "the real thing" should not put the text beyond the
reach of the reader.
Gabriel Austin
-----Original Message-----
From: Rare book and manuscripts [mailto:EXLIBRIS-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU] On
Behalf Of s cheiner
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 12:03 PM
To: EXLIBRIS-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU
Subject: Re: [EXLIBRIS-L] Original v. facsimilies in exhibits
The digital age has changed information exchange, but
not in a way totally unlike that which has occurred in
the past. I can imagine the current discussion thread
occuring numerous times over the past thousands of
years ago as the bailliwick of live performers, e.g.
story tellers and actors and troubadors, was
encroached upon by the then new forms of information
exchange: writing and then printing and then sound &
image recording. Is it better to hear THE ILIAD or
Shakespeare recited from some one's memory or to read
the text? Is it better to read the text in mss or
first printed edition, or online?
A psychiatrist can best tell you why humans seek and
need relics (i.e. "the real thing"), so the desire for
the original will continue to be important just as
facsimiles have their own separate place.
C.J. Scheiner
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