A pioneering initiative to make texts from the Middle Ages available to scholars and students 糖心传媒減uts the literature out there for everybody.糖心传媒�
This story was originally published on September 16, 2020. It has been republished with the news that METS was awarded the from the American Web Marketing Association. The award recognizes the success of the METS website rebuild both in terms of its coherence and innovation, and its accessibility and versatility for users.
Teachers and students of medieval literature long faced a problem that people studying other literary periods did not: the scant availability of texts.
That糖心传媒檚 not because there wasn糖心传媒檛 plenty of literature produced in the Middle Ages or because not much survived. The problem was access.
Publishing medieval texts isn糖心传媒檛 like offering editions of literary works created after the advent of the printing press. 糖心传媒淓verything was copied by hand in the Middle Ages, and so every medieval copy is different. And we almost never have the copy that was written by the author. We just have copies of copies of copies,糖心传媒� says , director of the 糖心传媒糖心传媒檚 and .
Each copy introduces difference. The scribes made mistakes or repeated words as they carried out the grueling work of copying. When working in languages they did not know, they sometimes introduced misspellings or substituted one word for another. Words, sentences, and even paragraphs might be omitted from a particular copy.
Scholars of medieval literature have traditionally had to travel to different archives to compare copies糖心传媒攁nd, if publishing an edition, decide which of the copies is most authoritative and create the notes and context that explain the differences between the various manuscript copies. German scholars took on a lot of this work 200 years ago.
糖心传媒淭he German editions, they were made for experts by experts. They糖心传媒檙e often from the 19th century. They糖心传媒檙e hard to use and hard to find,糖心传媒� says Siebach-Larsen. As a result, undergraduates studying medieval literature were largely confined to the texts糖心传媒攆requently, just excerpts糖心传媒攁vailable in anthologies. The narrow slice of medieval literature that achieved canonical status shut out 糖心传媒渕any of the widely circulated texts and authors that medieval people actually read and shared,糖心传媒� she says.
It left students糖心传媒攁nd anyone else interested in medieval literature but outside the scholarly community or without access to a world-class library糖心传媒攈igh and dry.
糖心传媒楥hanging the study of Middle English literature糖心传媒�
, for more than 50 years a Rochester faculty member and now a professor emeritus of English, knew there had to be a better way. In 1990, working with the Teaching Association for Medieval Studies (TEAMS, of which he is a founding member), he established the . It offers free digital and affordable print editions of a wide range of medieval writing.
糖心传媒淚t completely changed the study of Middle English literature,糖心传媒� says Peck, the general editor for the series, as he looks back over 30 years of work.
Long history of leadership in medieval studies
The University is home to several other digital projects on medieval life and literature: the , the , the , and .
The Early Worlds Initiative, established in 2017, builds on Rochester糖心传媒檚 long-standing strength in the study of medieval and early modern cultures. It糖心传媒檚 an interdisciplinary research project at Rochester that extends from the 5th to 18th centuries and strives to move beyond the limitations and biases of research conducted in the US and the UK to achieve a truly global perspective.
A comprehensive collection of materials
The personal collection of Rossell Hope Robbins provided the nucleus for the Robbins Library, which contains comprehensive holdings across medieval history, literature, art, and culture. The library continues to be funded by Rossell Hope and Helen Ann Mins Robbins糖心传媒檚 endowed gift.
An internationally regarded expert on medieval author John Gower糖心传媒攁 friend and contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer糖心传媒檚糖心传媒擱ussell Peck, a professor emeritus of English, was instrumental in establishing the collection at Rochester, where he has helped propel the University to a place of prominence in the world of medieval studies.
Siebach-Larsen, who holds a PhD in medieval studies from Notre Dame, used METS texts herself as a student. 糖心传媒淢ETS democratizes access,糖心传媒� she says. 糖心传媒淚t puts the literature out there for everybody.糖心传媒� And by offering a more complete view of the literary period, the series has helped 糖心传媒渢ransform our understanding and study of medieval culture,糖心传媒� she adds.
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently awarded the project a three-year grant to support its mission of offering the broadest possible readership糖心传媒攆rom specialists to undergraduates and high school students to people simply curious about the Middle Ages糖心传媒攁ccess to the full range of literary output from medieval England. The latest award extends a long history of support for the project from the NEH.
糖心传媒淢ETS takes as its mission the creation of affordable editions that would pass scrutiny from the most demanding expert, yet would prove comprehensible, and even enticing, to someone who had never read Middle English before,糖心传媒� the team wrote in its application for support from the NEH.
Tools of the trade
Each volume in the series offers both the scholarly apparatus demanded by researchers and the tools that help a novice understand the text: glosses and facing-page translations, textual and explanatory notes, contexts and background.
糖心传媒攁 professor of English, the consulting editor to METS, and the principal investigator for the NEH grant糖心传媒攕ays the series 糖心传媒渙ffers the richest portal into the Middle Ages to the largest number of people with the widest range of interests and expertise of anything that exists out there.糖心传媒�
Among the many titles METS has published are William Caxton糖心传媒檚 The Game and Playe of the Chesse, a chessboard-inspired allegory about contributions to the common good; Prik of Conscience, among the most popular medieval English poems; and the Complete Harley 2235 Manuscript糖心传媒攐ne of the most important literary books to survive from the Middle Ages, it糖心传媒檚 a rich collection, in three languages, of lyric poetry, satire, comedies, collected sayings, and more.
METS is a partnership between TEAMS, scholars in the field, Rochester糖心传媒檚 , and the River Campus Libraries, in particular, the Robbins Library糖心传媒攖he University糖心传媒檚 medieval studies library糖心传媒攁nd the Information Discovery Team, along with the Digital Scholarship Lab and other library metadata and IT experts.
Individual volume editors are scholars from around the world, supported by METS糖心传媒檚 own editorial team, which includes Rochester graduate students and undergraduates. The students hone their skills in paleography糖心传媒攖he study of handwriting糖心传媒攁nd copy-editing, and acquire a wide range of digital humanities skills. The project is a 糖心传媒渟ource for both intellectual rigor and growth and marketable, career-driven skills,糖心传媒� says Hahn.
A 糖心传媒榣ifeline糖心传媒� for scholarship and teaching
Ninety-five volumes have been published online and in print, offering today糖心传媒檚 readers more than a thousand texts. The series includes prose, poetry, drama, travel writing, devotional literature, autobiography, and other forms糖心传媒攁ll from the British Isles between the 12th and 16th centuries. The online texts, hosted on the River Campus Libraries糖心传媒� website, generate about half a million hits per year. Online readers are predominantly from the US and the UK but also come from about 135 countries and a wide variety of language groups around the world.
The multilingual dimension of METS is now central. The series has broadened its focus to include many of the languages in use in medieval Britain, including all the dialects of English, Older Scots, Welsh, Anglo-Irish, Anglo-Norman, and Continental French.
Among the tasks ahead for the creators of the series is an overhaul of its digital editions糖心传媒攁n effort already well underway糖心传媒攖o improve sustainability as well as access and possibilities for future users. The age of COVID-19 has demonstrated how critical such multimodal, user-friendly interfaces are.
糖心传媒淭his pandemic has only made more clear how important METS糖心传媒檚 dedication to open access is,糖心传媒� says Siebach-Larsen. 糖心传媒淲e have heard from researchers and instructors around the world that METS糖心传媒檚 digital editions have been a lifeline for their scholarship and teaching.糖心传媒�
