Launch of ‘Reading East: Irish Sources and Resources’ website

This new resource, a collaborative project between UCD and the DHO, funded by the Irish Research Council, attests to the contacts made between Europe and the East during the Seventeenth and Sixteenth Centuries. It also documents the many treasures held in Dublin research libraries which highlight these encounters.

Covering a variety of genres, the wide range of manuscripts detailed reveal a close and sophisticated relationship between East and West. Providing detailed descriptions of each text, the site also includes bibliographical reports, copy-specific information, images, and links to relevant online resources. The website also hosts descriptions of the libraries involved in the project with direct links to their websites, essays about some of the texts present in the catalogue, and a bibliography of relevant resources.

Reading East: Irish Sources and Resources was developed as a postdoctoral research project by Dr Marina Ansaldo, under the supervision of Dr Jane Grogan, at the School of English, Drama and Film, University College Dublin. The project was developed from January to December 2012 under the Government of Ireland Research & Senior Research Fellowship Project in the Humanities and Social Sciences, funded by the Irish Research Council. The website itself was created in collaboration with Niall O’Leary of the Digital Humanities Observatory, a project of the Royal Irish Academy.

The launch was part of the "Reading the Ancient Near East in Early Modern Europe" conference (22-23 November, 2012) organised by University College Dublin in collaboration with Marsh’s Library. Learn more on the website.