The Letters of Bess of Hardwick
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Grant Holder:
Mike Pidd
Elizabeth, countess of Shrewsbury (c.1522-1608), known as ‘Bess of Hardwick’, is one of Elizabethan England most famous figures. She is renowned for her reputation as an indomitable matriarch and dynast and perhaps best known as the builder of great stately homes like the magnificent Hardwick Hall and Chatsworth House. The story of her life as told to date takes little account of her more than 230 letters. The aim of the project is to make these letters accessible by producing a searchable, interactive online edition of all ca. 230 letters written to and from Bess of Hardwick.
The Letters of Bess of Hardwick Online will go live, freely and openly available to all, in summer 2011. The website will be accompanied by publications, online resources and podcasts which will introduce, comment upon and offer analyses of the letters.
| Project start date: 2008-04 | Project end date: 2012-02 |
Subject domains:
Era(s):
Country/region(s):
| Methods used | Category |
|---|---|
| 2d Scanning and photography | Data capture |
| Cataloguing and indexing | Data structuring and enhancement |
| Coding and standardisation | Data structuring and enhancement |
| Content analysis | Data analysis |
| Data modelling | Data structuring and enhancement |
| Sound recording | Data capture |
| Documentation | Strategy and project management |
| Human factors analysis | Strategy and project management |
| Text encoding - descriptive | Data structuring and enhancement |
| Text encoding - presentational | Data structuring and enhancement |
| Text encoding - referential | Data structuring and enhancement |
| Searching and querying | Data analysis |
| System quality assurance and code testing | Strategy and project management |
| Security planning | Strategy and project management |
| Usability analysis | Strategy and project management |
| Interface design | Data publishing and dissemination |
| preservation | Strategy and project management |
| General website development | Data publishing and dissemination |
| General project management | Strategy and project management |
| Manual input and transcription | Data capture |
Funding sources:
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Content types created:
Dataset/structured data, Sound, Still Image/Graphics, Text
Software tools used:
MySQL, Extensible Markup Language (XML), Adobe Photoshop, XSLT, Oxygen, MS Access, GarageBand
Source material used:
There are in the region of 230 letters extant to and from Bess of Hardwick (with ca. 80 written by Bess herself), scattered across 15 different archival repositories in the UK and US. They span a period of almost 60 years, from the 1550s to 1608.
The diplomatic editions of the letters reproduce and discuss material features and peculiarities of the letters faithfully; the normalised versions standardise the text and layout for straightforward access to the letters' contents.
Digital resource created:
The project produces online editions (normalised and diplomatic transcriptions with print-friendly versions) of these letters, complete with a fully searchable database catalogue and accompanying online materials for the historical background of the materials and their contents. Some letters will be accompanied by photographic reproductions of the manuscripts in the form of high resolution images.
Access to digital resource:
Open Access
Data Formats created:
JPEG; TIFF, XML
Metadata standards employed:
Text Encoding Initiative (TEI)
Publications:
Interactive website; articles or monograph.
Project staff and expertise:
| Principal staff member: | Alison Wiggins |
|---|---|
| Other staff: | PhD student(s) |
| External expertise: |
| Metadata on this arts-humanities.net record | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) of record | Valentina Asciutti |
| Title | The Letters of Bess of Hardwick |
| Record created | 2010-06-02 |
| Record updated | 2011-05-31 13:48 |
| URL of record | http://www.arts-humanities.net/node/3701 |
| Citation of record | Valentina Asciutti: The Letters of Bess of Hardwick. <http://www.arts-humanities.net/node/3701> created: 2010-06-02, last updated 2011-05-31 13:48 |