- Workshop
History of Text Technologies: Make Your Own Illuminated Initial
Come and make your own illuminated initial on parchment, using gold leaf and paint!
- September 16, 2026
- 2:00pm - 4:00pm
- Kislak Center Vitale II, Rm 623, 6th Floor
The History of Text Technologies is a series of workshops to be held in the Vitale II Lab for Book History and Digital Humanities during the 2026-2027 academic year.
What many and varied ways have humans used to write over the years? Through a series of workshops, scheduled over the 2026-2027 academic year, we will investigate this question. Over the course of the year we will look at books from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts, and we'll make some of our own.
The workshops will all be held in the Vitale II Lab for Digital Humanities and Book History (Van Pelt 623, in the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts).
Come and make your own illuminated initial on parchment, using gold leaf and paint!
Come write with quills, on paper and parchment!
Study a curated selection of historical collections and rare book manuscripts from the Kislak Center for Special Collections that explore the intersection of material archaeology, computational visuality, and natural knowledge in the pre-modern world. A workshop co-hosted by the Empire of AI Book Club and the History of Text Technologies workshop series.
Come learn about how you can "lock" your notes so only your friends can read them!
Come learn about what texts work better as rolls, which work better as books, and why.
Come print some text on our Book Beetle tabletop press.