Description of handwritten entries in early modern writing calendars (Schreibkalender) for an online reference work, c. 1540-1800

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The project focuses on the annually-published German writing calendar (Schreibkalender) of Early Modern Times that was produced in high quantities and reached very large audiences. While being a charactertistic part of the contemporary media ensemble in the German speaking lands of Europe, the Schreibkalender was from its beginning in 1540 both a paper-based material artefact resulting from complex and specialized publishing and printing processes and a document of handwritten interaction. Within its typical two-folded content of “Kalendarium” (containing astronomical information and astrological details) and “Prognostikum” (containing longer stories on historical, political and religious topics) the owner/reader was offered space for individual remarks, observations, and comments. These mainly yet unknown handwritten parts are to be found in about 5900 calendars and in sum make the Schreibkalender a very rich source for many historical departures. This project builds on four completed projects funded by the DFG (since 2002), uses more than 14.500 known copies of various Schreibkalender from 1540-1800, and aims to make these sources historiographically visible, documented and online accessible. The aim of the project is to systematically search for writing calendars with handwritten parts in yet untouched archival collections (Staats-, Landes- and Adelsarchiven), and make these calendars visible in an online accessible database. In the long run, the project’s database is designed to guarantee a future development of the database into a bigger reference work for a systematic documentation and analysis of all forms of printed calendars (organized by authors, publishers, titles, printing places, information on print runs and editions, etc.). Therefore, this project understand itself as a pilot project for an online reference work of all calendars published before 1800 in German speaking Europe. Building on the project’s online reference work, a first history of the printed calendar, as an important part of a to be written history of early modern communication, seems possible.