Abstract
This article considers the possibilities and challenges in using TEI-based XML markup for curation of objects mentioned in historical documents such as catalogues and inventories, but also in unstructured forms such as diaries and personal correspondence. It takes as a case study documents related to early modern collections of curiosities. It first considers how far the current guidelines for manuscript description can be generalized for encoding other kinds of material objects and their contexts. It then examines what more is required for treating mentions and descriptions of objects in historical documents. It argues that the core affordance of curation for such materials is the ability to identify and select what constitutes a mention of an object and to relate that mention to its immediate context, including its relationships to object groupings.
Highlights
1 This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing discussions of the Ontologies SIG about development of the TEI for treating objects identi ed in historical documents
“contains a word or phrase describing the material of which the object being described is composed.”8 all material objects are composed of something
The preceding examples are as much about elaborating the challenges as providing solutions, deriving from my experience in building an archive of primary materials related to what was arguably the rst major cultural movement to pay close and critical attention to the world of material objects
Summary
“contains a word or phrase describing the material of which the object being described is composed.” all material objects are composed of something. 12 With respect to the objects themselves, could be useful and appropriate for marking the “shass,” “girdle,” and “gaiters,” as well as the “chains”; in early modern documents concerning curiosities, object type is not always stated In many cases, it is not clear whether a mention of an object should be understood as a type of object. We have an indication of in the porcupine quills that were used to make the “shass,” “girdle,” and “gaiters” as well as a in the adjective “curious.” 13 A full accounting of the application of current TEI elements and attributes would require more extensive modeling than this paper can allow, but this is enough to demonstrate that much can be generalized and applied to mentions of or reference to objects, there are some limitations in applicability. This need is for something analogous to the naming function of and its variants as it is used to identify mentions of other real-world entities, but the need in this context extends far beyond simple naming: it involves the very function of selection described above
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