My project is a kind of “feasibility study” for a potential dissertation. The dissertation, I envision, will involve a study of English Renaissance reading practices based on the evidence of manuscript commonplace books and marginalia of printed books.
In this current project, I aim to test the feasibility of such a dissertation by surveying the holdings within New York City. My plan is to examine one manuscript commonplace book and the marginalia of at least one printed book in three area libraries: the Morgan Library, the Rare Book Division at the NYPL, and the Columbia Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Through these preliminary examinations, I hope to gain a better sense of what kind of skills I still need to develop, the sustainability of such a dissertation topic, and whether such materials will yield the information that I am looking for.
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