Saskia Limbach
Saskia Limbach
MA (University of Cologne)
Contact Details
Email: sl649@st-andrews.ac.uk
Thesis title: The Production of Broadsheets in Augsburg and Nuremberg
Supervisor: Prof. Andrew Pettegree
Research interests
My research interest lies in the history of the book, with a focus on books produced in the early modern period. I also have an interest in intellectual and medical history in Europe.
This thesis will focus on the economic importance of single-sheet items (broadsheets) for the German publishing industry in the 16th century. The production and the distribution of such items were essential components of the early modern printing business. Ephemeral publications such as broadsheets provided printers with much or their most lucrative business. Many were straightforward commissions from the local state and ecclesiastical authorities: proclamations, ordinances or indulgence certificates. These could be swiftly executed, and were paid for by a single client: the printer had none of the usual problems of distribution and sales associated with the book world. One can easily see why printers were happy to receive this sort of work, and many depended on it for survival.
I have had the chance to undertake significant preparatory work with a trial survey for my German master’s dissertation. This work raised a number of questions of more general application. Who printed broadsheets and why? Was it common for printers to receive monopolies on printing specific items such as disputations or ordinances? How much broadsheet material was sold commercially and how much distributed free? To elucidate these issues my doctoral work will focus specifically on Augsburg and Nuremberg, two major centres of printing that were also important administrative entities.
Awards
- Erasmus Scholarship 2009, University of Cologne
- Holbeck Charitable Trust History Scholarship 2012, University of St Andrews