The advantages and disadvantages of digital reconstruction and Anglo-Saxon manuscripts

• Main Author: M. R. Rambaran-Olm
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Open Library of Humanities 2015-04-01
• Series: Digital Medievalist
• Subjects: Medieval manuscripts; digital reconstruction; restoration; advantages; disadvantages; restorative work; palaeography; editing; textual editing; Anglo-Saxon manuscripts; damaged manuscripts; Photoshop
• Online Access: https://journal.digitalmedievalist.org/articles/49

In editing the 'Exeter Book'' 'poem's The Descent into Hell, also known as John the Baptist's Prayer, I attempted to digitally reconstruct the damaged folia that contain the only surviving copy of the Old English poem. In the process of carrying out the digital reconstructive work, many technical, aesthetic and analytical issues were raised. This paper examines many of the techniques used to digitally reconstruct damaged medieval folia using Photoshop, and also assesses the concerns raised during and after the digital reconstructive work was completed. This article also includes an evaluation of many of the benefits as well as the pitfalls of digital reconstruction carried out on ff. 119'v'-121'v' of the 'Exeter Book', and offers practical resolutions that might be considered when digital restorative work is performed on any given damaged medieval MS.