Thursday, October 07, 2010

Reading Europe: European culture through the book

Europeana, Europe’s digital library, museum and archive, has launched an online exhibitions that explore highlights of the continent’s literature. Reading Europe: European culture through the book showcases the full texts of 1,000 of Europeana’s most fascinating books, from medieval cookbooks to 18th century English bestsellers.

Many literary masterpieces can be found in their earliest printings, including Don Quixote in the first Spanish edition and Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot in the first Russian edition. Visitors can browse richly decorated manuscripts and discover compelling historical works like Jammers Minde – the fascinating 17th century autobiography of a King’s daughter and her 22-year imprisonment in Copenhagen’s infamous Blue Tower. Reading Europe offers a unique opportunity to view literary gems in 32 languages, from Albanian to Yiddish.

Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net