Project Summary
This project is hosted by: Institute of English Studies
- Research interests:
- Early Modern, English Literature, History of art, History of the book
- Regions:
- Europe, Europe, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Project period:
- 17-Sep-2015 - 16-Sep-2018
- Project categories:
- Fellowship grant
- Project summary:
Hiero von Holtorp’s collection has a gripping narrative. For fifty years, the Victorian collector aimed to explain the invention of printing as a cultural phenomenon. In scientifically and aesthetically arranged albums, he recontextualised thousands of print specimens that represent all major, and most minor, artists and printers from
every corner of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century print world. After he died, Enriqueta Rylands acquired all twenty lots of his collection at Sotheby’s in 1906 for £742 15s (£600,000 today) for the John Rylands Library. It has reemerged a century later, still in his arrangement and with his notes. As a rare, fully intact model of Victorian collecting, it gives extraordinary insights into his obsession, the rise of Victorian aesthetic collecting practices, and the origins of the field of bibliography. This project reconstructs the connections that Holtorp built into his
careful organisation of art historical and bibliographical material, exploring his engagement with individual objects and the collecting practice of creating order through design.
Management Details
Lead researcher & project contact:
| Name | Position | Institute | Organisation | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dr Elizabeth Savage | Lect. & British Academy Post Doc. Fellow | Institute of English Studies | SAS | elizabeth.savage@sas.ac.uk |
Funding:
| Funder | Grant type | Award |
|---|---|---|
| The British Academy | Postdoctoral Fellowship |