Workshop

Knowledge in Print

Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, December 12, 2008

The event was conceived by Christof Windgätter and is taking place in cooperation with the research initiative »Knowledge in the Making.« It expands the initiative’s perspective on writing and drawing by looking at the way printed matter is published. On the basis of concrete materials and examples, the workshop poses the question as to the importance of the design aspects of books, newspapers and journals for the production of scientific knowledge. Thus what is printed is no longer only, and above all not primarily, observed under commercial-distributive, political-social, aesthetic-bibliophile or technical-instrumental aspects, instead the epistemic function of the given external cover of the text shifts to the foreground: from typographical features, question of format and color, to the design of cover pages and title pages, all the way to the design of print series, trademarks and presentation media.
The historical emphasis of the workshops is on the period between 1850 and 1950, since it was during this time that reforms in publishing and trade intersected with technical innovations and changes in graphic printing, with lasting effects. The goal is to initiate discussion, among not only researching scientists but also specialists in book design, at the center of which are concrete objects.

Speakers: Ernst-Peter Biesalski (Leipzig), Michael Cahn (Los Angeles), Wulf D. von Lucius (Stuttgart), Volker Mergenthaler (Marburg), Patrick Roessler (Erfurt), Nina Schleif (Munich), Christof Windgätter (MPIWG).

Chairs/comments: Günter Karl Bose (Leipzig), Rolf Bulang (Marburg), Peter Nils Dorén (Berlin), Ernst Fischer (Mainz).

Kontakt: Christof Windgätter, cwindgaetter|at|mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de