The advantages and disadvantages of digital reconstruction and Anglo-Saxon manuscripts
Mary Rambaran-Olm · Digital Medievalist · 2013
In editing the Exeter Book poem's "The Descent into Hell," also known as "John the Baptist's Prayer," I attempted to digitally reconstruct the damaged folia that contain the only surviving copy of the Old English poem. In the process of carrying out the digital reconstructive work, many technical, aesthetic and analytical issues were raised. This paper examines many of the techniques used to digitally reconstruct damaged medieval folia using Photoshop, and also assesses the concerns raised during and after the digital reconstructive work was completed. This article also includes an evaluation of many of the benefits as well as the pitfalls of digital reconstruction carried out on ff. 119v-121v of the Exeter Book, and offers practical resolutions that might be considered when digital restorative work is performed on any given damaged medieval MS.