Research project

Navigating Networks through Scholarly Correspondence: Epistolary Exchange of Knowledge on Early Medieval English

In an age before GoogleDocs and LinkedIn, 19th-century scholars relied on letter-writing for collaboration, peer-feedback and the building and sustaining of academic networks. Letters were a quick, efficient way to share insights, data and discoveries. Scholarly correspondence thus allows a vital behind-the-scenes look at how scholars exchanged views, asked each other for opinions and even solved conflicts. Given that opportunities for long-distance travel were often limited by practical concerns, letters played an especially important role in shaping scholarly reputations and disseminating innovative ideas and methods on an international level.

Duration: 2024 - 2028
Contact: Rachel Fletcher
Funding: European Research Council (ERC)

This research is a sub-project of the ERC-funded project Early Medieval English in 19^th-Century Europe (EMERGENCE). The sub-project focuses on extant correspondence between individuals who engaged with Old English in 19^th-century Europe, whether independently or from within one of the growing number of research institutions that were beginning to transform medieval studies into a recognised academic discipline. Metadata relating to this correspondence will be entered into EMERGENCE’s Bibliographical and Relational Database of Old English in 19^th-Century Europe (OE-BaRD), allowing the correspondence to be understood in the wider context of other scholarly activity of the time.

Guided by the connections revealed by BaRD, my work will combine detailed case studies with social network analysis to address research questions such as:

How did scholars of Old English in the 19^th century share information across the boundaries of location, nationality, language, research specialism and institutional affiliation?

How might we reevaluate the significance of apparently minor scholars by considering not only their published research but also their participation in networks of scholarly correspondence?

What was the relationship between scholars’ public personas (as expressed through publications, lectures, institutional memberships etc.) and their self-presentation in the more personal domain of letter-writing?

At the same time, the project will also be producing a resource for future research into the history of scholarship, Old English studies and 19^th-century correspondence networks by identifying and where possible transcribing hitherto unexamined letters distributed across European archives.

Related research

Main project: Early Medieval English in 19th-Century Europe (EMERGENCE)

Subprojects: