Holy Digital Grail

"Deeply learned, self-reflective and ethical, and a really good read, Holy Digital Grail represents a lifetime's worth of thinking deeply."—Siân Echard, University of British Columbia

"Book history built around the precarious adventures of a single—and singularly embattled—Arthurian manuscript. Michelle Warren is among the most original, creative, and technologically alert medieval scholars of our time."—Paul Strohm, Columbia University

"This is the kind of book history scholarship we need in the twenty-first century: connective, imaginative, and unafraid to follow the histories of books wherever they lead. Michelle Warren's fascinating account of a single manuscript and its many afterlives connects our digital present and the medieval past with insight and verve, deftly combining the study of manuscripts, digitization, and media history in a remarkable synthesis."—Alan Galey, University of Toronto

"Warren's book is praiseworthy not just for her knowledge about MS 80, but also for her detailed understanding of the work involved in creating digital editions and the clarity with which she explains (what may be) unfamiliar technical terminology and processes to the reader. Warren's focus on the paratextual features of the manuscript, along with the attention she pays to processes of editing, collating, and preservation, make a thoughtful contribution to publishing studies in highlighting much of the unseen (and frequently unacknowledged) work that shapes audience interactions with medieval manuscripts."—Martha Claire Baldon, The Medieval Review

"Warren's personal approach presents a tangible expression of how new digital platforms have allowed and even prompted new avenues in manuscript studies."—C. E. M. Henderson, Modern Philology

"As with the search for the Holy Grail, the goal is not always entirely tangible, but the journey itself is very enlightening—and, in this case, also entertaining.... [Holy Digital Grail] is about much more than merely tracing the history of the records of one manuscript. The book addresses key questions about interactions between digital infrastructure and book history as well as the making and remaking of books. Ultimately, one could also see behind this a reflection of research data in the humanities, which results from the source, its digitization, and the multilayered enrichment over time."—Luise Borek, H-Sci-Med-Tech

"Holy Digital Grail is a carefully constructed and refreshing account of the history of a medieval book, from the origins of its text to its digital existence. Warren's interdisciplinary and reflective approach allows her to successfully disentangle the intricate connections between text, matter, technology, politics, and people."—Renske Annelize Hoff, Jarbuch für Kommunikationsgeschichte