Several thousand printed images from early modern Britain have been made available online to the public in a freely accessible database. The prints range from portraits of English monarchs such as Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, to Biblical scenes and dramatic war landscapes.
The three year Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-funded project, ‘British Printed Images to 1700’, began in 2006 under the Resource Enhancement scheme and was led by Professor Michael Hunter of Birkbeck College.
The majority of the pre-1700 prints in the British Museum collection have been catalogued and digitally scanned and a smaller number has also been derived from the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Visitors to the website can search the database of images by person depicted or the producer of the print. There is also a bespoke subject classification that is hierarchically organised in a series of categories which encapsulate the world and man’s place within it. The prints themselves can be magnified using the ‘Zoomify’ facility, which makes it possible to examine the high quality images more closely.
The website also provides a range of ancillary material, including a brief history of printmaking in the period, an introduction to the techniques used and a brief survey of the main genres of prints.
Additionally the website features a series called ‘Print of the Month’, issued sequentially during the lifetime of the project and now available on a rotating basis, which takes an in depth look at particular prints.
Professor Michael Hunter concludes: ‘The website will make this comprehensive collection of early modern British printed images accessible to a wide range of users, from academics to students in schools.’
The ‘British Printed Images to 1700’ website is accessible at: http://www.bpi1700.org.uk/
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Notes for editors:
Media contact: Matthew Begent, Communications, M.Begent@ahrc.ac.uk Tel: 0117 987 6780
About the Arts & Humanities Research Council: Each year the AHRC provides approximately £102 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,350 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. Arts and humanities researchers constitute over a quarter of all research-active staff in the higher education sector. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.