Combining Archival and Academic Research in Dissident Manuscripts: The Ostrobothnian Mystics Project (Finland)

Abstract

This article describes an interdisciplinary project set up for the collection of manuscripts produced during the period of ca. 1780–1830 by craftsmen and peasants along the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia in Finland (Ostrobothnian Mystics, literature and cultural history collection, the Finnish Literature Society). We briefly describe the nature of the material, discuss the specific aspects of the manuscript project which connected two fields of expertise – that of an archive researcher and a user of the particular collection – and conclude by arguing for the urgency of finding new ways and resources to preserve fragile items – both texts and material artefacts – in a specific field.