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The Cervantes Project: A Researcher's Dream
In February 2006, Eduardo Urbina received word that he and his team had received a $285,000 outright grant and $40,000 in federal matching funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support the Don Quixote illustrated hypertextual archive project. Urbina has personally researched the life and works of Miguel de Cervantes since 1976, and this grant will allow researchers to develop a digital archive of images based on published editions of the text. The proposed archive will help readers better appreciate the impact and influence of Cervantes’ masterpieces through worldwide electronic access to rare visual resources, thus restoring the connection between word and image.
The project supports the work of the Cervantes Project, which Urbina directs. The only comprehensive online resource for studying the late-16th century Spanish author, it includes more than 30,000 pages that have been converted to machine-readable text including commentary to help scholars compare different versions.
If studying a hard copy is more your style, the Cushing Memorial Library at Texas A&M University is home to the large and comprehensive collection of Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote de la Mancha, published first in 1605 and once again in 1615. This 1,000 volume collection was built from scratch with works donated from Urbina’s personal collection and with works purchased from other collections. Particular highlights include a 1620 printing, a 1655 Madrid edition, and a unique copy of the John Bowle edition of 1781.
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